Getting started
Search names
Resources
Contacting the FHU
The Family History Unit
The AIATSIS Family History Unit (FHU) commenced in the late 1970s, beginning as the an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index (ABI), which provided a brief biographical entry for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people referred to, or depicted in, published and unpublished material held in the Institute’s collections. hello
The Family History Unit is now jointly funded by the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OASIH) and AIATSIS, as part of the recommendations from the Bringing Them Home Report of 1997.
The Family History Team. Photo: AIATSIS
The Unit specifically assists Link-Up Caseworkers in family tracing and reunion for Indigenous people who are members of the Stolen Generations.
The Unit assists and refers anyone of Indigenous heritage with their family history research. There is no charge for this service.
Unit Staff search the following resources as standard for all requests:
- Birth, Death and Marriage indexes for all states and territories of Australia.
ABI – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index - The ABI presently has approximately 65,000 name entries and is fully searchable online through the AIATSIS Library catalogue, Mura - Archive Indexes - The Family History Unit holds Aboriginal Welfare Board/Aboriginal Protection Board indexes, Colonial Secretary Blanket return lists and Protector’s reports. Clients who require access to personal Welfare Board documents are referred to the relevant State Archives.
- Other people searching – with permission Unit staff may be able to put you in touch with others who are researching the same family as yourself.
Pictures Access – A database of select images from the AIATSIS Audio Visual Archive. - Other resources are searched and referrals made as appropriate. These resources include language material, autobiographies, genealogies, cemetery indexes, histories of missions, stations and reserves as well as mission magazines and unpublished materials.
What we can not do:
The FHU does not compile family trees or provide official confirmation of Aboriginality on behalf of individuals, but can advise Indigenous researchers on how to do so themselves.
To make a research request or to obtain advice you can:
- Download our Family History Kit online
- Write to:
AIATSIS Family History Unit
GPO Box 553
Canberra ACT 2601
Email: family@aiatsis.gov.au
Phone: 1800 730 129 - Visit: AIATSIS, Acton Peninsula, Lawson Crescent, Acton ACT
(If you need assistance with your research, please phone ahead for an appointment)