EG Whitlam was prime minister from 5 December 1972 to 11 November 1975. He held the seat of Werriwa (New South Wales) for the Australian Labor Party from 1953 until 1977.

The National Archives has Cabinet records, records of government departments, and personal records of EG Whitlam.

• Personal records
• Audio records
• Whitlam before his term as Prime Minister
• Whitlam during his term as Prime Minister
• East Timor records
• Margaret Whitlam
• Photographs
• Relevant research guides
• Research databases

Under the Archives Act 1983, Commonwealth records are open to public access 30 years from the date they were created. Records of the Whitlam government in 1974 will come into the open period in 2005.

See Access to records under the Archives Act.

Personal records of Whitlam

People in prominent positions often have significant personal collections of records, as well as creating records in the institutions in which they work. These personal collections are usually a mixture of official and private material and may span a number of different positions. The National Archives collects personal records from Governors-General, Prime Ministers, ministers and some judges. For more information, see Commonwealth persons.

Whitlam before his term as Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam first became a federal parliamentarian in 1953. He served as deputy party leader from 1960 to 1967 and was a member of the Shadow Cabinet. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1967 to 1972.

Whitlam during his term as Prime Minister

See also Cabinet records created in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.

Records documenting the work of former prime ministers can also be found in series created by government departments. For Whitlam, of particular interest are records created by the departments of

• Prime Minister and Cabinet (CA 1401)
• Foreign Affairs (CA 1382)
• Environment (CA 1869)

Each Commonwealth agency (or CA) has a number, as cited above. These numbers can be used to search RecordSearch for records created by that agency. Enter an agency number (eg CA 1401) into the field for 'Reference numbers'. Then select from the 'Search' drop-down menu to search 'Series'.

East Timor records

Records from 1974 to 1976 concerning the Indonesian incorporation of East Timor were released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in 2000.

Copies of some of these records were published by DFAT in Australia and the Indonesian Incorporation of Portuguese Timor, 1974–76. For a list of the East Timor records released, see Chapter 8 of the Archives guide Near Neighbours.

Margaret Whitlam

Gough Whitlam's personal records include records relating to his wife, Margaret. Various government departments will also have created Commonwealth records relating to Margaret Whitlam in her role as spouse of the Prime Minister.

Relevant research guides

The National Archives has produced a number of research guides and fact sheets to assist your research on Gough Whitlam. These are available from the website and in print versions.

Edward Gough Whitlam (Fact Sheet 216)

Records of Australian prime ministers, 1901–71 (Fact Sheet 70)

Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War (Fact Sheet 117)

National service, 1965–72 (Fact Sheet 164)

John Grey Gorton (Fact Sheet 85)

Near Neighbours: Records on Australia's Relations with Indonesia (Research Guide)

Sound Recordings in the National Archives (Research Guide)

Australian Overseas Information Service photographs (Fact Sheet 47)

Research databases

RecordSearch contains searchable descriptions of millions of items from our collection. Many of them are wholly digitised.

PhotoSearch allows you to search and browse over 110 000 photographs from our collection.