Primary contact
Menzies Building, 2 Fellows Road, Acton
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601
Australian National University (ANU) Archives, Canberra
In 1946 the Bill establishing the Australian National University was passed by Federal Parliament and in 1950 the first academic staff members arrived to take up their appointments.
In 1957 the Mt Stromlo Observatory formally became part of the ANU through association with the Department of Astronomy in the Research School of Physical Sciences.
The ANU amalgamated with Canberra University College in 1960 and the College (which had enrolled its first students in 1930) became the School of General Studies and undergraduates became part of ANU life for the first time.
In 1965 the Australian Forestry School, which had been established in Canberra since 1927, accepted its first students as a department in the University's Faculty of Science.
The University Archives was established in 1998.
For further information about the history of the Australian National University, see http://archives.anu.edu.au/collections/university-archives/history-anu
The acquisition of material is governed by a collecting policy https://policies.anu.edu.au/ppl/document/ANUP_009412.
The University Archives hold a range of material dating from the late 1920s relating to the history of The Australian National University and its predecessors such as the Canberra University College, Mt Stromlo Observatory and the Australian Forestry School. The collection includes minutes of the ANU Council and other University committees, correspondence files, photographs, plans, and publications such as annual reports and the ANU Reporter. The papers of academic and senior staff of the University and University organisations are also part of the University Archives.
Search the database at http://archivescollection.anu.edu.au/
Open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
Closed weekends, public holidays and between Christmas and New Year.
Please contact the Archives by email or telephone before visiting.
Material is available under a 30-year rule (progressing to a 20-year rule by 2021) under the Archives Act 1983 (Cth). Researchers must sign an access agreement.
Researchers must provide their own copying devices.
Revised 15 April 2018