Australian History
This is a topic with many facets, the following is a starting point. Explore other areas of the guide that may be relevant.
Key websites
-
Bendigo Regional Archives CentreIncluding records related to Petitions 1870-1899, WWI Resource Kit, and W.C. Vahland.
-
Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora catalogueA list of material in the archive that has been inventoried so far
-
National Archives of AustraliaThe archives main catalogue, Record Search, describes over 6 million records.
-
National Film and Sound ArchiveSearch the collection of films, images, interviews and sound recordings.
-
Pandora - Australia's web archiveA collection of Australian online publications, established initially by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations. Now searchable via Trove - Archived Websites.
-
University of Melbourne ArchivesContains significant holdings of Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Indigenous records collected by the University over many decades.
-
Australian dictionary of biographyAustralia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography, produced by the National Centre of Biography at ANU.
-
Jones, B. (2025) Dictionary of World Biography: 10th ed. ANU Press.Openly Accessible Dictionary, available to access and download in multiple formats.
Some tips:
- Think about whether the individual was known by different names such as a stage name or a married name - eg Nellie Melba - Helen Porter Mitchell.
- Consider searching common and full birth name? eg Bob Hawke - Robert James Lee Hawke.
- Is it a common name? Try adding in other keywords such as location (eg Australia), profession (eg lawyer), achievements or life stages.
-
Australian Federation Fulltext DatabaseA digitised collection devoted to national debates and auxiliary writings of the 1890s, introduced by Helen Irving.
Hosted by the University of Sydney Library. -
Chinese Heritage of Australian FederationTeaching materials, research, databases and links.
-
Documenting a Democracy: Australia's StoryMaintained by the National Archives, this searchable site provides full text primary sources from Australia 's foundation to today.
-
Reason in Revolt: Source documents of Australian radicalismAn expanding record of the movements, institutions, venues and publications through which radicals sought to influence Australian society.
-
Australian Historical AssociationThe peak national Australian organisation of historians working in all fields of history.
-
Royal Historical Society of VictoriaAlso available - the index to the Victorian Historical Journal and the Victorian Historical Magazine.
Search the Societies section for a list of local affiliated bodies. -
Royal Australian Historical SocietyBased in Sydney, the Society has a particular focus on New South Wales local and community history.
See also the family history and genealogy groups in the Genealogy Topic Guide.
-
Albury Library Museum collectionsThe collection contains over 20,000 objects and includes pieces of national and international significance.
-
Bendigo Library (Goldfields Libraries)Information about a range of library services and spaces, including Genealogy groups and online history resources.
-
Hyphen (Wodonga) Library - Historical ResearchResources for local and family history resource as well as a collection of items about the history of Wodonga.
-
Mildura Library - Discover Local HistoryLocal and Family History collections and resources
-
National Library of AustraliaSearch their catalogue and select `Limit to:' to limit to Pictures, Manuscripts etc.
-
Shepparton Library local history collections and servicesOnline resources and genealogical research material.
-
State Library of NSWSearch the collection or select Digital collections to browse images and digitised materials.
-
TroveYou can access a huge repository of Australian material in this online search engine developed by the National Library of Australia.
Key databases
-
Informit Complete This link opens in a new windowAustralasian scholarly research for the education, research and business sectors.
This package provides access to the full suite of Informit products, with full text cover-to-cover access to journals, monographs, conference proceedings and other research material.
-
Victorian Heritage DatabaseVictoria's significant places and objects.
-
Informit Complete This link opens in a new windowAustralasian scholarly research, with full text cover-to-cover access to journals, monographs, conference proceedings and other research material. Includes the Indigenous Collection.
-
AIATSISAn Indigenous-led, national institute that celebrates, educates and inspires people from all walks of life to connect with the knowledge, heritage and cultures of Australia’s First Peoples.
The Collection contains more than 1 million items, including books, audio, photographic, manuscript, moving image and art and object material, related to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories.