"The new investment announced in last night’s Federal Budget means that Parramatta will be able to consolidate its position as a major highlight of Sydney’s tourism industry," the Lord Mayor said.

The $500,000 allocation will help fund Parramatta Stories, a series of heritage tours around Parramatta, which was the original centre for government, farming and trade in colonial New South Wales.

Parramatta Stories is the first in a three stage tourism strategy to deliver vast improvements to heritage listed properties and link them with imaginative trails to bring alive specific themes and characters from Parramatta’s past.

"Parramatta as the gateway to greater western Sydney is already a vital commercial, residential and cultural centre. This injection of funds means our tourism strategy can begin in earnest and that Sydney’s second city will now be able to better promote the unique historical assets of the fastest growing region in NSW," Cr Barber said.

The Parramatta Stories project will reinvigorate and transform Parramatta into an 'outdoor living museum’, with its significant Aboriginal and European sites, including Parramatta Park, Old Government House, Elizabeth Farm and the Female Factories.

"Last night’s decision properly recognises Parramatta as home to the first chapter of colonial Australia and the importance not only of preserving its sites but also sharing them with domestic and international tourists," Cr Barber said.

The Commonwealth investment in Parramatta Stories is expected to provide substantial injections into the local economy, complementing tourist attractions that already support 3,500 jobs per year in the Parramatta LGA.

"This funding gives an additional boost to a city already thriving as now the civic hub of western Sydney," Cr Barber said.

"It also means that the oldest surviving public and domestic buildings in Australia – and the stories they house – will be revealed to more Australians.”