Stories from the archives

Hand-coloured and drawn plan with elevations

Colonial Victoria's unsung defender

Charles Edward Ernest Umphelby and the defence of colonial Victoria

A man sitting at a desk infront of an ABC-TV camera.

This Day Tonight: Australian current affairs television comes of age

Current affairs blending hard-hitting stories with satirical segments and political parodies.

Australian hosts outside the Australian pavillion at Expo 1970 Osaka.

Australia at Expo ’70

Australia was one of 77 nations to participate in Expo ’70, in Osaka, Japan.

Gardener brand canned citrus fruit salad

The Archives bear fruit

Eagle-eyed government officials ensured Australia’s fruits reached the world – and left a colourful legacy in the National Archives.

2 watercraft anchored below a missing bridge span.

Divided city – Tasman Bridge disaster

January 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the collision between the SS Lake Illawarra and the Tasman Bridge.

A doll amongst building material caught on a fence.

50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy

Fifty years on, we remember the resilience of Darwin's people and their work towards recovery and rebuilding.

Children looking up at Santa aboard a railway carriage.

Santa in the Spinifex

Commonwealth Railways provided annual Christmas gifts and events for children in isolated communities.

Port Augusta - Supervisor with dining and sleeping car staff of the royal train July 1920

A train fit for a prince

In April 1920 Edward VIII, the Prince of Wales, embarked on a three 3 month sightseeing visit to Australia. A thank you for the men and women who served in the Great War, his visit was warmly welcomed amongst large sections of Australian society.

Floppy disks

Accessing our digital legacy

A recent project has allowed National Archives to access and work towards preserving the contents of 30-year-old floppy disks.

Government - Federal Parliament - Proclamation of Joint Sitting of Parliament, read by Mr David Smith outside the House

In colour: Australia's first deadlock

Newly rediscovered tapes in National Archives capture the 1974 joint sitting after the controversial double dissolution.

An illustration of colourful Australian wildflowers.

Wildflower stop

A special stop on the Trans-Australian Railway let passengers stop and smell the flowers.

5 men sitting around a fire heating tin buckets in front of an open mess tent.

POWs on the Trans-Australian Railway

Italian POWs recruited to build the Trans-Australian Railway.