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Archives relating to Indigenous people
Archives are records, documents and manuscripts held by state and commonwealth archives and libraries. These may include government records as well as private and company papers. Archives collections may also be found in museums, local history societies or in private collections.
Think about when family members might have come in contact with the government – school, hospital, exemption certificates, or by be being ‘under the Act’ as a controlled Aboriginal person on a mission or reserve.
These are all examples of times when a record may have been created about your family members that may now be a State or Territory archive or the National Archives.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols for libraries, archives and information services guide archives and libraries in best practice when dealing with records relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and providing services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Finding archives on the web
Directory of Archives and related organisations in Australia
Trove - allows you to search the records of many major Australian
cultural institutions; including photographs, books, newspapers, maps, journals,
films and videos, CDs, DVDs, government reports, newspapers, talking books,
musical scores and much more.
State Archives
ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA |
Australian Capital Territory
- National Archives of Australia - Records about Indigenous Autralians
- Australian War Memorial
- Noel Butlin Archives - records of trade unions and pastoral properties - see its Records about Aboriginal People
- ArchivesACT
New South Wales
- State Records NSW - Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Aboriginal People. The NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs is the custodian of the records of the Aborigines Protection Board and the Aborigines Welfare Board. The records are held at State Records NSW.
Northern Territory
- Tracking Family - A Guide to Aboriginal Records Relating to the Northern Territory
- Northern Territory Archives Service - Researching your Aboriginal Family History at the Northern Territory Archives
Queensland
- Queensland State Archives - Resources Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
South Australia
- South Australian Museum - Archive collections, including the Tindale collections, Aborigines' Friends Association and other relevant collections
- State Records of South Australia Guide to Aboriginal Records
Tasmania
- Archives Office of Tasmania - Records relating to Tasmanian Aboriginal people
Victoria
- Public Record Office Victoria - Victorian Koorie Records Unit. For Indigenous records, see:
- Aboriginal Records at the Public Record Office
- Koorie Family History Research at PROV
- University of Melbourne Archives - The Diane Barwick collection is a particulaly useful collection for information on Aboriginal families in Victoria and New South Wales. The University of Melbourne Archives also holds material relating to Indigenous Australians within the records of trade unions and pastoral properties (for which see also Noel Butlin Archives) and in the papers of academic staff who have had an anthropological or welfare interest in Aboriginal people.
Western Australia
- Looking West: A Guide to Aboriginal Records in Western Australia
- Department of Community Services Family Information Records Bureau
- Aboriginal Family History in the State Records Office of Western Australia
- The Archives of the Benedictine Community of New Norcia
- Department of Indigenous Affairs - Aboriginal Family History Information Service - they administer access to records stored in the WA State Records Office