On 3 April 1954, Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov, who had been Third Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra since February 1951, defected in Sydney. Some two weeks later, on 20 April, his wife Evdokia, who worked at the embassy, also defected, after having been freed from Soviet couriers by Australian police at Darwin airport. These defections led to an extensive inquiry into Soviet espionage in Australia and resulted in the withdrawal of the Soviet Embassy from Australia and the expulsion of the Australian Embassy from Moscow.
On 13 April 1954, Prime Minister Menzies told Parliament of the defection and announced the establishment of the Royal Commission on Espionage (RCE) to inquire into and report on Soviet espionage in Australia. Lengthy debriefings by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) following the defections revealed that Vladimir Petrov was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Soviet intelligence service and had been responsible for Soviet espionage in Australia. Mrs Petrov was also an intelligence officer.
The Royal Commission opened in Canberra's Albert Hall on 17 May 1954 before Commissioners W F L Owen (Chairman), R F B Philp and G C Ligertwood, judges of the New South Wales, Queensland and South Australian Supreme Courts respectively. During the next 10 months, the Commission sat on 126 days in 3 venues, examined 119 witnesses, received over 500 exhibits, including the documents that Petrov handed Australian authorities following his defection (which became known as the 'Petrov Papers'). It published almost 3000 pages of transcript.
An interim report dealing with the authenticity of exhibits H and J, two of the 'Petrov Papers', was presented to the Governor-General on 21 October 1954 (printed as Appendix No. 2 of the final report). The Commission's final report was presented to the Governor-General on 22 August 1955 and to Parliament on 14 September 1955 (see Parliamentary Papers 1954–55, Volume III, pp.187–677). The principal findings of the Commission included that:
The Commissioners recommended that no prosecutions be launched as a consequence of their inquiry.
Most records of the RCE are held by the Archives in Canberra. A selection of its records and those of other key government agencies held in Canberra is listed below.
 | Exhibits, single number series | 1954–55 | A6201 | ||
| Exhibits, single letter series | 1954 | A6202 | ||
| Correspondence files (include unpublished transcript) | 1954–56 | A6213 | ||
| Newspaper cuttings | 1954–56 | A6225 | ||
| Newspaper cuttings | 1954–56 | A6226 | ||
| Unbound volumes of transcripts – with index | 1954–55 | A10939 | ||
| Register of exhibits | 1955 | A6210 | ||
| Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6216 | ||
| Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6217 | ||
| Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6218 | ||
| Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6235 | ||
| Annexure to the Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6219 | ||
| Annexure to the Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6220 | ||
| Annexure to the Report of the RCE | 1955 | A6221 | ||
| Printed copy of the transcript for 'in camera' hearings | 1955 | A6223 | ||
| Personal files | 1949–ongoing | A6119 | ||
| Subject files | 1949–ongoing | A6122 | ||
| Microfilm copy of personal and subject files | 1949–ongoing | A6126 | ||
| Long-playing gramophone records | 1952–55 | A6281 | ||
| Newspaper cuttings | 1954–56 | A6282 | ||
| Correspondence files | 1954–55 | A6283 | ||
| Miscellaneous material | 1954–55 | A6285 | ||
 | Skripov case, Soviet embassy closing 1954, Mrs Petrov at Mascot (film) | 1954 | A8703, 20 | ||
| Letter to Vladimir Petrov from Prime Minister Menzies | 1954 | A12994, 1 | ||
| Letter to Evdokia Petrov from Prime Minister Menzies | 1954 | A12994, 2 | ||
| Communism – political asylum to Mr & Mrs Petrov | 1954 | A462, 211/2/24 | ||
| The future of Mr & Mrs Petrov | 1954 | A1209, 1977/818 | ||
| Prime Minister's Office file on the RCE | 1954–55 | A6227 | ||
| Petrov defection policy | 1954 | A4940, C926 | ||
| Vladimir & Evdokia Petrov – naturalisation | 1956 | A4940, C1293 | ||
| V M & E A Petrov – request for political asylum | 1954–61 | A1838, 1500/1/3/23 part 2 | ||
| Note delivered to Soviet Ambassador | 1954 | A4311, 445/1 | ||
| Publication of book by Mr & Mrs Petrov | 1955 | A432, 1955/2784 | ||
| Personal property of Mr & Mrs Petrov stored at USSR Embassy, Canberra | 1955 | A432, 1955/2825 | ||
| Mrs Petrov (item held in Darwin) | 1954 | F423, S33 | ||
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 keywords 'Petrov', 'Royal Commission on Espionage' or the name of a witness before the RCE will locate records of interest. 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 or in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated December 2006