Canberra’s East Block building, which now houses the National Archives of Australia, was one of the three original buildings – along with the interim Parliament House and the West Block building – in the city’s Parliamentary Triangle precinct. Originally known as Secretariat Building No. 1, East Block was designed by government architect John Smith Murdoch, who also designed Parliament House and West Block. Construction work commenced in 1925 and the building was ready for occupation in 1926.
The original name – Secretariat Building No. 1 – denotes the early intention that following the completion of Parliament House, and the move of the seat of government from Melbourne to Canberra, each Minister would be supported by a small secretariat, but most departmental staff were to remain in Melbourne. The secretariats would occupy East Block and West Block (then known as Secretariat Building No. 2).
East Block’s best known tenant was the General Post Office. From 1927 the original Canberra Post Office operated from the wing of the building facing Queen Victoria Terrace, and became the point from which distances to and from Canberra were measured. Other government agencies housed in East Block included the Department of Commerce, the Department of Trade and Customs, the Auditor-General’s office, and the Prime Minister’s Department.
After comprehensive restoration and renovation, East Block was occupied by the National Archives in 1998.
The Archives in Canberra holds a considerable range of records including files, photographs and architectural plans and drawings which relate to the design, construction and subsequent maintenance of East Block. Examples of these are included in the table below.
 | Secretariat Building No. 1, now known as Commonwealth Offices, East Block | 1924–28 | A6270, E2/28/2240 | ||
| Engineer's Drawing M3155A. Secretariat Building & Post Office Canberra. Heating | 1925 | CT86/1, E | ||
| No.1 Secretariat Building. Supply & installation of hot water system. (McAuley Bros. contract). Payment file | 1925–26 | A6270, E2/26/656 | ||
| Commonwealth Offices (East Block) – additional work | 1927–30 | CT86/1, 298 | ||
| Commonwealth Offices – East Block and West Block – internal renovations | 1934–36 | A292, C6558A | ||
| Erection of a new office block. Commonwealth Offices, East Block. Contractor – C Banks. | 1937 | A295, 420 | ||
| Prime Minister’s Department – East Block accommodation | 1951–67 | A463, 1966/2911 part 1 | ||
| Alterations to East Block – final stage | 1963–65 | A463, 1963/1387 | ||
 | Sheaffe papers | 1902–63 | M4071 | ||
| 28 photographs recording the construction of Parliament House and the Secretariat (now East Block) | 1924–25 | M4071, 63 | ||
| Mildenhall photographs of early Canberra | 1921–35 | A3560 | ||
| East Block under construction – north-east aspect | 1926 | A3560, 36 | ||
| East Block from Parliament House | 1926 | A3560, 143 | ||
| East Block from Queen Victoria Terrace | 1921–31 | A3560, 304 | ||
| Parliament House and East Block under construction | 1926 | A3560, 640 | ||
| Early stages of construction of East Block | 1925 | A3560, 825 | ||
| East Block under construction | 1924–25 | A3560, 827 | ||
| Parliament House and East Block from north | 1926 | A3560, 2306 | ||
| East Block from west (Camp Hill) | 1926 | A3560, 2384 | ||
| Policeman at East Block wearing helmet | 1927 | A3560, 3682 | ||
| East Block offices and Canberra post office | 1934 | A3560, 7412 | ||
| Entrance to East Block offices | 1927 | A3560, 7756 | ||
| View of East Block | 1927–35 | A3560, 7788 | ||
| Aperture cards for ACT architectural plans and drawings | 1921–59* | A9663 | ||
| Foundation plan and cable tunnel details | 1924 | A9663, A923 | ||
| Ground and first floor plan | 1924 | A9663, A924 | ||
| Sections and elevations | 1924 | A9663, A925 | ||
| Concrete stairs and entrance porch | 1925 | A9663, A1057 | ||
| Half inch detail of front | 1925 | A9663, A1099 | ||
| Bike shed | 1937 | A9663, 7168 | ||
| Detail of letter on front elevation | undated | A9663, 20201 | ||
| Boiler house | undated | A9663, 20913 | ||
| Detail of entrance door handles | 1953 | A9663, 22180 | ||
| Reconstruction of paving | 1954 | A9663, 22468 | ||
| Details of glazed partitions on ground floor | 1954 | A9663, 23749 | ||
| Extensions – 1957 | 1957 | A9663, 24499 | ||
* Most items in this series are not individually dated. The series date range provides some indication of when individual items were created.
You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) from RecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. Searches using the term 'east block’ will identify relevant items. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.
RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online and in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.
updated January 2008