The National Archives of Australia (NAA) is the primary institution tasked with collecting, preserving and storing federal government records in Australia. They do this to “connect Australians with the nation's memory, their identity and history”.
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Searching Records in RecordSearch
Searching the archives done through their RecordSearch interface.
RecordSearch is the National Archives' collection database. It is the quickest and most efficient way of finding out what is held in the collection, and of locating the records you want.
RecordSearch gives you online access to:
- descriptions of 60,000 collections (called series)
- details of 9000 creators and depositors (agencies, persons and organisations)
- descriptions of around 8 million record items (eg files, maps, posters), and
- digital copies of 1.2 million records
There are 6 search options available:
- Basic search - a simple keyword search with the option to contain the search between two dates.
- Advanced Search - search through specific Functions, Persons, Organisations, Agencies, Series, or Items
- Name Search - search a specific individual by family names, first name and category of record. The broad categories are:
- Australian Defence Forces personnel records – includes categories for all services in the Boer War, World War I and II, post World War II and peacetime service
- Other defence records – includes categories such as service pay records, Royal Australian Air Force accident reports, Australian prisoners of war records, courts martial, repatriation cases (Boer War and WWI only), war gratuity, civilian service, Army Inventions Directorate and Papua New Guinea evacuees
- Immigration and naturalisation records
- Other records – includes security and intelligence records, copyright, patent and trademark registrations, Australian Broadcasting Commission artists, Commonwealth Literary Fund applicants and High Court cases
- Photo Search - search for an image using a keyword with the option to contain the search between two dates
- Passenger Arrivals - search the Passenger arrivals index, 1898 - 1972, which includes shipping lists, aircraft manifests and airline arrival cards. Search by names, date, ship name, and port of arrival and/or embarkation.
- Newly Scanned Records - as records are constantly being added this section allows you to browse records that have been scanned recently, filtering for those digitised in the last month, fortnight or week, and whether they are documents or photographs.
- Search tab interfaces (Screenshots)
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Basic Search Interface
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Advanced Search Interface
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NameSearch Interface
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NameSearch dropdown options
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PhotoSearch Interface
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Passenger Arrivals Interface
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New Scans Browse Interface
Obtaining Records
Once you have found a record of interest there are several options available to procure it.
If the records has already been digitised you may be able to download it immediately. The most direct way to do this is to right click over the image and download the image. NB: If the file is a multipage document you will have to do this for each individual page and then, if you choose, recombine them as a pdf yourself.
If the record in question has not yet been digitised you can order a physical and/or digital copy from the archives via the online form. Charges will apply but once digitised it is available to everyone.
To order records you will need to create an NAA Account.
Optimal Searches for Genealogists
The most useful search options for genealogists are Simple Search, NameSearch and Passenger arrivals. Here are some examples of search results for each of these searches.
If you do a simple search for a common name or keyword you will get a high number of returns. If your ancestor has an unusual name or you can at least narrow down the date range, the more luck you will have. In the gallery below are the returns for the following parameters:
- Simple Search - Keyword: ROTHBAUM Dates: from 1859 to 1950
- NameSearch - Family Name: ROTHBAUM Category of Records: Australian Defence Force Personel Records
- Passenger Arrivals: Family Name: ROTHBAUM
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Basic Search results
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NameSearch results
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Passenger Arrivals
The different results of each search are interesting to compare.
The Simple Search returned six records (removing the date restriction only returned one extra record unrelated to this family). The first is a patent application by George Rothbaum in 1892; two records relate to Lionel Rothbaum's service in WWII - the second record in the list is his service record and sixth record is his record card in the Commonwealth War Graves card catalog - Steward Lionel Rothbaum died aboard the HMAS Sydney in 1941.
The other three records, relate to Harry Isaac Rothbaum (Harry is George's son and Lionel's father) - they include his attestation forms for both the first and second World Wars, which have been digitised, and a third, undigitised record that just has his service number on it.
To understand what this record is, I have to click on it, then click on the Series Number (which is hyperlinked) to see which dataset it comes from: Personal case files, World War I. The Series Note indicates that "This series consists of the files of ex-servicemen who fought in the 1914-18 War, or of their dependants." and goes on to explain what else may be included in the files. If you find an undigitised record you can apply to have it copied.
In some cases the item may have the status "Not Yet Examined". In this case, you'll need to submit an application via the online form to clear the item for copying. Depending on the nature of the item it may take some time, but the archives must let you know a result within 90 days[1].
The NameSearch > Military Records search only returned three records - Lionel Rothbaum's service record and Harry Rothbaum's Attestation Forms.
The Passenger Arrivals returned a shipping list for H I Rothbaum - Harry Isaac - traveling from Adelaide to Western Australia aboard the Pilbara in 1901; and Incoming Passenger Cards, forms filled out by all passengers arriving in Australia aboard aircraft from 1970 onwards, for Henry Peter and Joy Doreen Rothbaum, a public servant and his music teacher wife, who came to Australia from New Zealand in 1972 for a 10 day holiday.
Each of these records is a data point that tells a story about the person it relates to. The National Archives of Australia has a wealth of records and is well worth exploring if your family has any connections to Australia.