Fact sheet 70 – Prime Ministers of Australia
Between the appointment of Edmund Barton as Australia’s first Prime Minister in January 1901 and 1983 there have been 22 prime ministers of Australia.
The National Archives has prepared a fact sheet on each of the prime ministers in this period describing records held about them in the National Archives collections.
Prime Ministers of Australia, 1901–71
| Period | Prime Minister | Fact sheet no. |
|---|---|---|
1901–03 | Edmund Barton | |
1903–04, 1905–08, 1909–10 | Alfred Deakin | |
1904 | John Christian Watson | |
1904–05 | George Houstoun Reid | |
1908–09, 1910–13, 1914–15 | Andrew Fisher | |
1913–14 | Joseph Cook | |
1915–23 | William Morris Hughes | |
1923–29 | Stanley Melbourne Bruce | |
1929–32 | James Henry Scullin | |
1932–39 | Joseph Aloysius Lyons | |
1939 | Earle Christmas Grafton Page | |
1939–41, 1949–66 | Robert Gordon Menzies | |
1941 | Arthur William Fadden | |
1941–45 | John Joseph Ambrose Curtin | |
1945 | Francis Michael Forde | |
1945–49 | Joseph Benedict Chifley | |
1966–67 | Harold Edward Holt | |
1967–68 | John McEwen | |
1968–71 | John Grey Gorton | |
1971–72 | William McMahon | |
1972–75 | Edward Gough Whitlam | |
1975–83 | John Malcolm Fraser |
Prime ministerial records
The National Archives holds records relating to all prime ministers. These include:
- Commonwealth records relating to the official duties of the Prime Minister, or to the person in an official capacity before or after he had served as Prime Minister – created or received by bodies such as Cabinet or government departments or agencies
- personal collections relating to their official duties as Prime Minister or in other official capacities – assembled or created by or for the person
The Archives hold personal collections of a number of Prime Ministers, although several significant prime ministerial collections have been deposited with major collecting institutions such as the National Library of Australia, a Prime Ministerial library or the state or university libraries.
No collections of personal records are held for the first five prime ministers (Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, John Watson, George Reid and Andrew Fisher) or for the short-term Country Party Prime Minister Arthur Fadden (1941). The fact sheets on these men refer principally to records held by the Archives about them and their period in parliament.
Public access to the records
The Archives Act 1983 provides a right of access to Commonwealth records over 30 years old. While the Act does not apply to purely personal archives deposited with the Archives by individuals, it does apply to any Commonwealth records which form part of a personal archives collection. Commonwealth records in the personal collections of prime ministers will not be available until 30 years after the creation of those records.
Public access to the non-Commonwealth component of a personal collection is determined by the depositor. Reference staff will be able to advise you of the access conditions that apply to the personal records of individual prime ministers. In some cases the records are very old and fragile, and access may be given to a copy rather than the original record.
Sources of information about records of prime ministers
The National Archives has prepared a number of publications that provide information about the life and times of each of Australia’s Prime Ministers and the archives collections that contain information about them:
- The Australia's Prime Ministers website includes copies of significant records relating to each prime minister.
- Prime Ministers pages with comprehensive listings of records.
Research guides
The following guides are available to download in PDFs or purchase as print publications.
- Our First Six: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers by Susan Marsden and Roslyn Russell, 2002 (describes records relating to Barton, Deakin, Watson, Reid, Fisher and Cook) [download First Six PDF 1.9mb]
- Joseph Lyons: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers by Susan Marsden, 2002 [download Lyons PDF 716kb]
- Stanley Melbourne Bruce: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers by John Connor, 2003 [download Bruce PDF 1.3mb]
- Harold Holt: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers by Pennie Pemberton, 2003 [download Holt PDF 2.2mb]
- John Curtin: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers by David Black and Leslie Wallace, 2004 [download Curtin PDF 2.5mb]
You can buy the research guides online in the National Archives Shop or from any Archives reading room. They are $19.95 each (including GST) – $18.14 (excluding GST). Or you can order a copy from Publication Sales, PO Box 7425, Canberra BC ACT 2610 or by email to naasales@naa.gov.au.
The National Film and Sound Archive holds film of every Australian prime minister (except for John Watson), as well as recorded sound of all but five – Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, John Watson, George Reid and Andrew Fisher.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated October 2008