Land and Pastoral Station Records
Make an Enquiry : Guides to Indigenous Family History Records : Archives
Aboriginal stockworkers and domestic staff worked for generations on pastoral stations, particularly in northern Australia. Many of these workers left the stations after the 1968 wages case.
Some station owners or managers kept records such as diaries, wage books, registers of births etc.
Many of these records are held at the Noel Butlin Archives, mainly for farms and cattle properties in New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The Noel Butlin Archives also holds the records of many trade unions and companies that would cover people working in related industries.
If you know of someone who has worked on an existing station, you could try writing to the station to find out if any records were retained. Unfortunately, some stations haven't kept records and many stations no longer exist or have been sold on.
There were various "pastoral directories" published that list pastoral properties, their names and owners etc. These may be useful to identify properties no longer in existence. The major title was Australian Pastoral Directory (didn't include Western Australia), but there were many other short-lived directories that can help. It is best if you direct such an enquiry to your State Library or to the Noel Butlin Archives who also have map collections that may assist in identifying a pastoral property.
If you want to search for information about pastoral properties you should contact the following state government agencies. They have pastoral maps, records of land surveys and details of who bought and sold properties. To access some map resources, click here.
You can also search for station records at RAAM and the Australian Historic Records Register by searching for the name of the station in 'All indexed words':
Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts (RAAM)
Australian Historic Records Register (AHRR)
Australian Capital Territory
Registrar General's Office Land Titles service
New South Wales
Land and Property Information New South Wales (LPI)- Land & Property Searches
Pastoral properties may also be located on Parish and historical maps which are searchable through the LPI website
Northern Territory
Land Informtation (Department of Planning and Infrastructure). See also the Northern Territory Archives Service Guide to records relating to the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory
Queensland
Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland - Land Titles Searches
The Queensland State Archives collects public records only, ie., records of State Government departments, State courts, local government authorities, statutory authorities etc.
In particular there is a guide to Land Tenure Records ie pastoral leases
South Australia
Department for Administrative and Information Services
The information available by a computerised register search comprises of current interests in land. Not all historical information is available by a computerised search. To access historical information you will need to visit Records Service Centre, at level 10 of the Lands Titles Office and access the manual register. For more information visit the Searching Family Records category of this site.
Further information can be accessed by visiting:
Records Service Centre
Level 10, Lands Titles Office
10th Floor
101 Grenfell St, Adelaide
Tasmania
Department of Primary Industries and Water - Property, titles and Maps
Victoria
Land Victoria - Titles, Certificates and Plans
Western Australia
Landgate is the Western Australian government agency responsible for land and property information - Landgate has a Historical Records service.
How do I conduct a search? You can request a search in the following ways:
Post: PO Box 2222, Midland, WA 6936
Fax: 08 9250 3187
Phone: 08 9273 7333
You may also apply for a search in person at the Midland office:
1 Midland Square
Morrison Road (cnr Gt Northern Hwy)
Midland
Or use Landgate's online order form
Updated: May 2008