Australian Society of Archivists

The Reading Room is open Wed-Fri 9:00am-12:30pm and 1:30-4:30pm. A refreshment room is available.

A closed period of 30 years applies to most records. Official research may be carried out by authorised departmental officers. A reader's ticket is issued to all researchers who wish to request material.

The National Archives of Australia holds a fascinating array of material, one of the most important collections of documentary heritage in the country. The Archives is the official repository for Commonwealth Government records and the personal papers of people with close links to the Commonwealth, such as federal politicians and senior public sevants.

The Archives preserves valuable records created by Commonwealth departments and makes them accessible to present and future generations. Nationally, it stores hundreds of thousands of records, mainly files, but also film and photographs, magnetic tapes, maps and artefacts. The Archives Act 1983 allows access to Commonwealth records generally once they are thirty years old.

• The National Archives of Australia holds records covering all facets of Commonwealth Government activity since Federation in 1901, as well as some earlier records for activities that were transferred from the colonies to the Commonwealth Government.

  Records held in the Tasmanian Office of the National Archives of Australia include: records relating to vessels build or registered in Tasmania, Tasmanian lighthouses, defence installations and early Australian Antarctic expeditions and bases. This office also holds plans of Tasmanian locomotives, rolling stock and railway stations as well as plans of Commonwealth buildings in Tasmania.