Fact sheet 191 – Aerial photographs

The major aerial photographic collections held by the National Archives are listed below. Additional photographs may be identified by conducting a phrase search on the RecordSearch database using the term 'aerial photo*'.

Accessing some of the collections may not be straightforward because they are not always well indexed. In addition, the geographical coverage of some collections is still to be fully determined.

Arrangements for obtaining copies differ from State to State. Inquiries should be directed to the office holding the collection.

Aerial photographic collections

Location, description and quantity	Date	Series no.
Canberra
The trenches in northern France [0.4m] Bombardment damage on the battlefields of France [0.18m] RAAF aerial surveys of Australia [0.2m] CSIRO Murray River Basin aerial surveys [0.2m] Army aerial photographs of Australia [158.5m] Aerial photographic mosaics [7.2m] Aerial survey of Australia [240.5m] Aerial photographic mosaic glass negatives of Darwin [0.2m] Aerial photographic mosaics [3.5m] Aerial photographic mosaics [0.7m] Snowy Mountains [0.9m] Lake Mackay and Mt Rennie MacDonald (WA and NT) [0.2m] Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority [23m] Australia (all States except Tas and the ACT) [1m] Australia (except ACT) and PNG [53.7m] The Australian Capital Territory [2.5m] South Vietnam [0.3m] Phuoc Tuy Province, Vung Tau areas, South Vietnam [0.6m] Jabiluka uranium mine site and surrounds, NT [0.1m] Lemonthyme and Southern Forests, Tasmania [0.3m]	1916–18 1916–18 1930–53 1931–38 1933–86 1935–37 1940–60 1944 1950–61 1951–58 1952–60 1957 1959–71 1960–74 1960–ongoing 1960 1967 1971 1975 1987–88	M433 M434 A2594 D1900 A8514 AA1969/104 A1579 A2832 A2827 and A2829 A2828 and A2830 M2235 A2831 A5618 and A5672 A5446¹A891 and A892 A894 A6919²A6830²A4409 C2398
Sydney
RAAF aerial surveys of Australia [13.5m] (see also Melbourne) War damage (including Darwin, Thursday Island, New Guinea and New Britain [78.5m] Vegetation cover in eastern New Guinea [0.2m] Cockatoo Island Dockyard [0.2m]	1928–53 1942–48 1943 1944–64	B5424 SP24/1 M1744 C90
Melbourne
Victorian and NSW coastal areas, and NW Australia [0.2m] RAAF aerial surveys [285m] (access provided by AUSLIG) RAAF surveys of Australia and overseas [103m] Central Australia [0.2m] Allied Works Council storage depots in NSW [0.2m] Laser profile charts and photographs [7.5m] Papua New Guinea [1.5m]	1920–30 1928–53 1942–48 1943 1944–45 1967–83 1977	MP390/3 B5424 B3957 M1174 MP960/5 B1375, MT2188/6 and MT2188/7 B473
Brisbane
Eagle Farm aerodrome and surrounding areas [0.2m] RAAF Base Amberley, Lavarack Army Barracks, Townsville and the Clevedon Remote Receiving Station [0.2m] Commonwealth Rehabilitation Centre, Taringa [0.2m] Lavarack Army barracks site and Townsville area [0.2m] Lightstations: Bustard Head, Cape Capricorn, Sandy Cape [0.2m] Meteorological satellite weather negatives [1.2m] Rockhampton aerodrome and Archerfield aerodrome [0.2m] Dent Island, Queensland [0.4m]	1942–72 1954–69 1962–77 1965 1976 1978 1978–83 1989	BP374/3 J2781 J1958 J158 J2797 BP542/3 J2782 J2857
Perth
Civil aviation aerial photo maps, Western Australia [0.2m]	1953–57	PP395/1
Adelaide
RAAF aerial photographs of SA and NT [2.7m] Aerial survey photographs of railway locations in SA [0.4m] Tarcoola to Alice Springs railway [0.45m] Army photomaps of South Australia [0.7m] South Australia and the Northern Territory [0.36m] Weapons Research Establishment (SA) [0.5m] Woomera rocket range [0.5m] Railways in the NT [0.2m] The Maralinga atomic test area, South Australia [6.5m] SA railway locations including Broken Hill area in NSW [0.8m] South Australia and the Northern Territory [0.36m] South Australia [0.9m] Outback South Australia [0.2m] South Australia [3.2m] South Australia and the Northern Territory [1.08m] Defence exercise areas (including Williamtown, Amberley, Woomera, Darwin and parts of WA) [18.5m] Tarcoola to Alice Springs Railway [2.6m] Weapons Research Establishment (SA) [0.2m]	1946 1946–48 1947–50 1947–52 1947–53 1947–59 1950–72 1950–72 1953–61 1954–75 1955–60 1955–68 1961–65 1964–85 1965–69 1968–70 1971–73 1975	D4630 D2771 D5272 AP1021/13 and 22 D4631 D4648 D1947 D2327 D1768 D1938 D4632 AP1129/2 D4467 D5270 D4633 D3917 D4472 and D5271 D4675
Hobart
CSIRO soil investigation aerial photographs of Tasmania [3.5m] Tasmanian railways [2m]	1946–65 1976	P2541 P2705
Darwin
North Australia [0.5m] CSIRO aerial surveys of NT [0.36m] CSIRO aerial surveys of NT [0.5m]	1935–40 1950–69 1971–86	NTAC1979/126 E1390 E1389
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Australian military campaigns (maps and aerial photos) [48m]	1885–ongoing	AWM195

¹ series held by AUSLIG ² series held by Department of Defence

For more information

You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) fromRecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. 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.

Other sources

National Library of Australia – Prints of approximately 800,000 aerial photographs of Australia taken from 1928–87 are held by the National Library of Australia (see Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions for contact details).

AUSLIG – Details of how to access AUSLIG's aerial photographic library are available from the AUSLIG website at www.auslig.gov.au/products/photos/

Fact sheets

Fact sheet 191 – Aerial photographs

Aerial photographic collections

For more information

Other sources