Canberra national office

National Archives of Australia
Queen Victoria Terrace 
PARKES ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6212 3900, Fax: (02) 6212 3999
PO Box 7425, CANBERRA BUSINESS CENTRE ACT 2610

View map

Opening hours

Reading room

9am to 5pm weekdays, closed public holidays 
Open until 7pm each Tuesday.
Please note: the last delivery of records from the repository is 5pm on Tuesdays.

9am to 5pm Saturdays
Please note: Records cannot be delivered from the repository on Saturdays. You can send an advance request to view records.

Exhibition galleries

9am to 5pm daily (except Christmas Day and Good Friday)

Coffee cart

Coffee, sandwiches, drinks and snacks are available from the coffee cart in the Visitors Lounge, open weekdays from 8.15am to 3.45pm.

Getting there

Car parking

Free 2-hour visitor parking is at the front of the building between Queen Victoria Terrace and Kings Avenue. Limited long-stay parking for researchers is at the rear, off Queen Victoria Terrace. Disabled, motorbike and bicycle parking spaces are at the front and rear of the building. There is also free long-stay parking in Federation Mall.

Buses

We are 300 metres from bus stops on Kings Avenue, near the corner of National Circuit. Weekday bus routes: Red Rapid 200 (wheelchair accessible), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (limited wheelchair access). Weekends routes: 934, 935 and 938 – check the timetables for wheelchair access. Maps and timetables are vailable from ACTION bus service or telephone: 13 17 10.

Taxis

Taxi pick up and drop off is at our business entrance, at the front of the building.
Canberra Cabs online bookings, telephone bookings: 13 2227 / wheelchair access 6126 1596. Or sms: 0417 672 773 with your name, pickup place and time
Cabxpress online bookings, telephone bookings: 6260 6011 / wheelchair access 6260 6077

School buses and coaches

Bus parking is near the business entrance, at the corner of Queen Victoria Terrace and Kings Avenue.

Onsite accessibility

Wheelchair access

All public areas of the National Archives are wheelchair accessible. Ramps give access to both the business and visitor entrances. A wheelchair can be requested from reception on arrival.

Toilet facilities

A toilet with disabled facilities is on the ground floor, near the reading room.

Assistance animals

Visitors with recognised assistance animals, including guide and hearing dogs, are welcome.

The collection in Canberra

Because most Australian Government agencies have their central offices in Canberra, the collection is large, rich and diverse and includes many thousands of photographs.

It covers Cabinet, Federation, Prime Ministers and other leaders of the nation, and most of the activities with which the government has been involved. Several collections are particularly popular with researchers, such as ASIO and Royal Commission records.

The service records of Australians who have served in wars, notably World Wars I and II, are invaluable for family historians.

The migrant selection documents and naturalisation papers of millions of people who have come to live in this country are also of major interest for historians and genealogists. Recent work has made the records of displaced people – refugees displaced by World War II – more accessible as they can now be searched by name.

The copyright collection dates back to colonial times, a rich source of Australian creative endeavour and social history. Records on patents and trademarks also show an interesting aspect of Australian history.