Specify state or territory and event. Separate local civil records from federal files.
Prepare your research
State or territory, names, period, ship if known and established relationships.
The method, step by step
- National Archives guides cover migration and military service. Name searches cover selected collections.
- Trove adds newspapers and family notices. Check each OCR result against the newspaper image.
- Compare ship, date, relatives and destination before assigning an arrival. For Indigenous histories use specialist guidance and respect community protocols.
Choose the right repository
Civil records: state or territory. Federal files: National Archives. Newspapers: Trove and libraries holding the title.
Choose a route from the record you have
- For births, marriages and deaths identify state or territory. For migration, defence or naturalisation select the appropriate federal collection; NAA and Trove serve different needs.
- Use newspapers and electoral rolls to trace addresses, then check identity in another record. Keep announced maintenance dates; an unavailable search engine is not documentary absence.
Find archives
National Archives of Australia →
Guidance to Australian migration and military service files.
NameSearch covers selected collections, not every resident.
Trove — National Library of Australia →
Australian newspapers and heritage collections.
OCR may distort names; check newspaper and coverage.
Sources & references
- National Archives of Australia ↗ (Resource review date : )
- Trove — National Library of Australia ↗ (Resource review date : )