Cathedral of St Michael and St John a rare example of one of only four 19th century Cathedrals in NSW and is the second Cathedral to be built in the colony. The design of the building is one of only a few prepared by English architect Charles Hansom for use in Australia and notably modelled on St Osburg's Church in Coventry dating from the 1840s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. The Cathedral of Saints Michael and John is representative example of a mid 19thbcentury Catholic Cathedral which was established during a
Cathedral of St Michael and St John modifications. The former St Mary's Convent, demolished in the late 1970s, lies immediately to the south of the Cathedral and the site of the original 1840s Catholic Church of Saint Michael, demolished in the 1870s, lies to the west of the Cathedral. The cathedral complex has a reasonably high degree of integrity despite the loss of the adjoining Convent in the 1970s and original Church in the 1870s. The 1880s Presbytery, on the corner of Keppel and George Streets now the Chancery Office, the 1930s Catholic is also an important element. The Cathedral of Saints Michael and John, a notable