National Archives of Australia, Victoria State Office, Melbourne

National Archives of Australia, Victoria State Office, Melbourne

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See National Archives of Australia, National Office

Archives Act 1983 (Cth)

Officer-in-charge: Regional Manager South, Victoria State Office, Melbourne

See National Archives of Australia, National Office

The National Archives Melbourne collection includes records of Commonwealth departments, statutory bodies, royal commissions, lighthouses, naval vessels, courts and tribunals. These records document a wide variety of Commonwealth government activities, including defence, migration, Aboriginal affairs, trade and veterans’ affairs.

Although the records mainly date from Federation, they include a small quantity of 19th century records inherited from the colonies when certain functions, such as customs, postal and telegraphic services, defence and Aboriginal affairs, passed to the Commonwealth. Other notable holdings include meteorological records dating from 1840, records relating to customs dating from 1850s and records relating to the administration of Aboriginal affairs in Victoria from 1860.

The collection in Melbourne is especially rich because the original seat of the Commonwealth government was located there until 1927 and remained a centre for federal government activity until the 1960s. It documents the central offices of many departments of state including the Postmaster-General’s Department and the Departments of Labour and National Service, Civil Aviation and Defence.

The National Archives’ collection database, RecordSearch, gives online access to the National Archives’ holdings Australia-wide.
For access to RecordSearch, see the link from www.naa.gov.au.

For a guide relevant to Melbourne holdings, see Collections in Melbourne: A Guide to Commonwealth Records, by Celia Blake, revised 2003, 76pp at https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/research-guides/collections-melbourne-guide-commonwealth-records

For a full list of guides to the National Archives’ collection, see: https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/research-guides

The National Archives research centre within the Victorian Archives Centre Reading Room is open Wednesday to Friday 10am–4.30pm.
Closed on public holidays.
Note: For up-to-date information on opening times, see https://www.naa.gov.au/visit-us/victoria
Please note: Allow up to 48 hours for retrieval of records. You can send an advance request to view records. See http://reftracker.naa.gov.au/reft100.aspx?pmi=hU6OUeo5eq

See National Archives of Australia, National Office

Maps and information about parking, public transport and onsite wheelchair access to the research centre are available at https://www.naa.gov.au/visit-us/victoria

The Victorian Archives Centre research centre is operated jointly by the National Archives and the Public Record Office Victoria (PROV).

See National Archives of Australia, National Office for information about National Archives research services.

Information about ordering copies of records and associated fees is available at https://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/our-services/supplying-digital-copies-records

Revised 31 January 2022