History
Collecting began in the late 1970s and two early major acquisitions were the J C Williamson Theatre Archive and the Dame Nellie Melba Collection. Today, the collection holds over 680,000 items, including major acquisitions from Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave, Barry Humphries, Bell Shakespeare, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Australian Opera and The Australian Ballet.
Records management and collecting policies
The Australian Performing Arts Collection focuses on performing arts including circus, theatre, opera, dance and music.