Fact sheet 58 – World War I internee, alien and POW records held in Canberra
Introduction
Internees are prisoners of war (POWs) or enemy aliens who are obliged to reside within prescribed 'camps', generally unable to leave until the termination of the related conflict or war.
During World War I internment in Australia was regulated by the War Precautions Act 1914 and its regulations. The main internment camp was at Liverpool, New South Wales. Most of the internees were Germans living in Australia who were subsequently deported.
The Archives holds many records specifically relating to internment and internees. However, references to individuals often occur in files with general titles. Also, it was not uncommon for internees to be moved from one camp to another, even to another state. Thus records that relate to individual internees may be difficult to identify, though they may exist in the collection of more than one office of the Archives.
This fact sheet identifies records of World War I internees, aliens and prisoners of war held in Canberra. Records in other offices can be identified by using the Archives' publication Finding Families: The Guide to the National Archives of Australia for Genealogists, or the Archives RecordSearch database.

