Darwin office
National Archives Darwin Office
National Archives of Australia
Kelsey Crescent
MILLNER NT 0810
PO Box 24, NIGHTCLIFF NT 0814
View map
Opening hours
Reading room
9am to 4.30pm Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, closed public holidays
Getting there
Car parking
Free visitor parking is available in front of the bulding on Kelsey Crescent.
Buses
The Darwin Bus Serice operates Route 10 from harry Chan Avenue to Casuarine and vice versa and stops at Bagot Road (near Skelton Street) a five minute walk to the National Archives. Tel: (08) 8924 7666
Taxi
The main taxi rank in the city is in Knuckey Street, near Smith Street Mall. From Casuarina Shopping Centre, the taxi rank is in front of the main entrance below the cinema complex on Trower Road.
Onsite accessibility
Wheelchair access
All public areas of the National Archives are wheelchair accessible.
Toilet facilities
A toilet with disabled facilities is situated near the reading room.
Assistance animals
Visitors with recognised assistance animals, including guide and hearing dogs, are welcome.
The collection in Darwin
Treasures include the first meteorological recordings from the original site for the town of Palmerston 1865 (Adam Bay at the mouth of the Adelaide River), and further recordings from the new site of Palmerston on the Port of Darwin in 1865. There are also pastoral lease records dating from this era.
Like other offices, Darwin holds Certificates of Exemption from the dictation test for many non-European residents of Darwin during the White Australia Policy era. Records relating to the administration of welfare for Aboriginal people throughout the Territory from the late 1920s are a rich resource.
Records also document the Japanese bombing raids on the Top End, and the evacuation of civilians from all areas in World War II.
The Darwin collection includes records of the development of the Uluru National Park, and the Kakadu National Park from its conception in the mid 1960s. The devastation of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy and the subsequent reconstruction of the city is also well documented.
Co-location plans
Co-location with the Northern Territory Archives Service at the National Archives’ facility in Millner is expected to take place in the second half of 2012.
