Primary contact
Reading Room, Baillieu Library, The University of Melbourne, ParkvilleMelbourne, Victoria 3010
The University of Melbourne Archives was established in July 1960, to collect and preserve records relating to the University and to business and business people for the purposes of historical research. Today it is one of the largest non-government archives in Australia, with a collection of nearly 20km of records.
Our first collections came from the University of Melbourne and also Victorian businesses. The business collections include the records of wholesalers and retailers, factories and foundries, solicitors and architects, along with the records of some of Australia's largest mining companies.
From 1973 the Archives began to collect trade union and other labour history material. More than one hundred trade unions are now represented in the Archives' collections. During the same period, the Archives began also to collect records of professional, community, women's, peace and political organisations.
From the beginning, the Archives' primary role was to provide a rich source for research in Victorian and Australian history and the Archives continues to welcome researchers, both academic and the public.
The Reading Room is generally open Monday to Friday 10am-4pm but times vary.
See online for up-to-date times: http://library.unimelb.edu.au/readingroom#hours
All researchers must register with the Reading Room's online registration system: https://aeon.unimelb.edu.au. Researchers must agree to our access conditions when they register.
No fees are required. Access to the collections is open to all, although some collections have some access restrictions. Researchers are advised to contact UMA in such cases.
The repository is offsite so we need notice to transport material to the reading room. Requests for open access material lodged by 12 noon will be available in the Reading Room the following week day.
A location map is available online, see http://archives.unimelb.edu.au/#contact-us.
The reading room is wheelchair accessible and other access issues will be accommodated by UMA staff.
There are no fees for access to the material, but our staff cannot undertake research for users.
Our reference service is available to give advice on which material might be relevant to your enquiry. Please email with as much information as you can to assist our staff to answer your enquiry. Email archives@archives.unimelb.edu.au
Photography is permitted in the reading room on open access conditions, provided researchers abide by copyright laws.
To request high resolution or large-scale digitisation, you will need to contact UMA as this is assessed on a case-by-case basis. More information is available online here: http://library.unimelb.edu.au/readingroom/guides/copying-materials