East Burwood, Melbourne, 2004

Location

From at least 1950 there has been a Commonwealth archives officer based in Victoria. By 1953 an archives office existed in the city in Wentworth House, 203 Collins Street, on the site of what is now the City Square. Records storage was at Maribyrnong. At about that time a building in Outer Crescent, Middle Brighton was purchased and in June 1954 the Archives moved into the new premises with much ingenuity, adaptability and renovation required to convert the old dry cleaning factory into a national archival repository. At the time it was considered to be a treasure in comparison to other archival facilities. In 1954 TR Schellenberg (a well known archivist) wrote to Ms Thea Exley (Archives Officer, Melbourne):

I imagine that by now you are well established in your new quarters in Melbourne. The building is quite elegant, and it is a pity it is not available for archival purposes in Canberra instead of being located in Melbourne.

Over the years the Archives has also stored records in Moorabbin, Port Melbourne and Dandenong. In 1992 our reading room and offices returned to the city at Casselden Place on the corner of Lonsdale and Spring Streets.

By 1994 a state-of-the-art repository and offices were opened at 31 Vision Drive, East Burwood where the Archives continue their Melbourne storage, preservation and collection management operations.

Melbourne office, Brighton, 1954

In 1997 the Archives were joined at Casselden Place by the Public Record Office Victoria to form the Melbourne Archives Centre. This successful partnership led to the joint reading room at 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, which opened in 2004. Later in 2004 the Archives will transfer about five shelf kilometres of the records consulted most frequently by our researchers from East Burwood to North Melbourne.

To maintain a Melbourne central business district presence a National Archives reference point has been established at the Genealogy Centre of the State Library of Victoria with an online terminal, finding aids and publications.

The collection in Melbourne

Our Melbourne collection includes records of Commonwealth departments, statutory bodies, royal commissions, lighthouses, naval vessels, courts and tribunals. These records document a wide variety of Commonwealth government activities, including defence, migration, Aboriginal affairs, trade and veteran’s affairs.

Although the records mainly date from Federation, they include a small quantity of 19th century records inherited from the colonies when certain functions, such as customs, postal and telegraphic services, defence and Aboriginal affairs, passed to the Commonwealth. Other notable holdings include meteorological records dating from 1840, records relating to customs dating from 1850s and records relating to the administration of Aboriginal affairs in Victoria from 1860.

The collection in Melbourne is especially rich because the original seat of the Commonwealth government was located there until 1927 and remained a centre for federal government activity until the 1960s. It documents the central offices of many departments of state including the Postmaster-Generals Department and the Departments of Labour and National Service, Civil Aviation and Defence.

Melbourne

Victorian Archives Centre
99 Shiel Street
NORTH MELBOURNE VIC 3051
Tel: (03) 9348 5600
Fax: (03) 9348 5628
PO Box 8005
BURWOOD HEIGHTS VIC 3151