Available records
Archived State Government files held at the State Records Office WA
The Aboriginal History Research Services manages access to approximately 16,000 archived files created by the various government departments that managed Aboriginal Affairs from 1886 to 1972.
State Records Office WA
Department
| Years
|
---|
Aborigines Protection Board | 1886 to 1897 |
Aborigines Department | 1897 to 1909 |
Aborigines and Fisheries Department | 1909 to 1920 |
Department of the North West (Aboriginal affairs above the 26th parallel) | 1920 to 1926 |
Department of Aborigines and Fisheries (Aboriginal affairs below the 26th parallel) | 1920 to 1926 |
Aborigines Department (re-established) | 1926 to 1936 |
Department of Native Affairs | 1936 to 1954 |
Department of Native Welfare | 1954 to 1972 |
Personal files (Archived State government held at AHRS)
The AHRS provides Aboriginal families with access to personal and family history information through the custodianship of the Personal Files created by variously named Aboriginal welfare departments. From the period from 1921 to 1972, the Native Welfare
Department and its predecessor departments compiled a collection of personal files with information about Aboriginal people and their families.
Departments holding personal files
Department
| Years
|
---|
Department of Aborigines and Fisheries (Aboriginal Affairs below the 26th parallel) | 1920 to 1926 |
Aborigines Department | 1926 to 1936 |
Department of Native Affairs | 1936 to 1954 |
Department of Native Welfare | 1954 to 1972 |
The information contained in these files was often highly intrusive, referencing applications for citizenship or exemption certificates, birth and death information, family history data, movement of individuals around the State, and general correspondence.
The personal files are therefore significant in meaning to the Aboriginal community, and an important asset in Aboriginal family history research and information.
In 1972 approximately 17,000 of these personal files were moved from the State Records of Western Australia, where they were archived, to the Department of Community Welfare, which became the Department of Child Protection, to provide information on the
adoption of Aboriginal children. In 2017 the custodianship of over 16000 personal files was transferred from the Department of Child Protection to AHRS.
Personal history cards
The Personal History Cards were created by the various state government departments responsible for Aboriginal people’s welfare in the period between 1918- 1972.
Departments holding personal history cards
Department
| Years
|
---|
Aborigines Department | 1926 to 1936 |
Department of Native Affairs | 1936 to 1954 |
Department of Native Welfare
| 1954 to 1972
|
Each personal history card corresponds to an individual’s personal file, also created by the various state government departments. The information contained in these cards was often highly intrusive, referencing applications for citizenship or exemption certificates, birth and death information, family history data, movement of individuals around the State, and general correspondence. They may contain material and observations on Aboriginal people, particularly your ancestors that are considered offensive today.
Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell Genealogies
Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell were anthropologists who conducted fieldwork in various parts of Australia. During the 1930s and 1950s they compiled a number of genealogies of Aboriginal families in Western Australia. These genealogies are now owned by the South Australian Museum. The AHRS manages access to copies of the Western Australian genealogies. They are provided to Aboriginal families through the Family History application process.
Under copyright laws these items cannot be used for publication or duplicated without permission from the South Australian Museum.
Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell Photographs
The photographs included in your information were taken by anthropologists Norman Tindale and Joseph Birdsell during fieldwork expeditions in Western Australia during the 1930s, 1950s, and 1960s. The original photographs are now owned by the South Australian Museum. The AHRS manages access to copies of these photographs.
The number that the individual is holding corresponds to a set of data cards also completed by the anthropologists outlining basic details and a range of physical measurements and observations of the person. This number is also used to identify the person in the hand written genealogies by Tindale and Birdsell.
The Tindale and Birdsell photographs are provided under copyright from the South Australian Museum. Under copyright laws these items cannot be used for publication or duplicated without permission from the Museum.
Elkin Genealogies
The Elkin genealogies were created by anthropologist A.P. (Adolphus Peter) Elkin during fieldwork in the Kimberley region in 1928. In 2009 the owners of the genealogies, the University of Sydney, provided copies to the AHRS for the purpose of family history research. Copies of the genealogies are available to family members through the family history application process.
The Jan Goodacre Collection
The Jan Goodacre collection includes more than 70,000 individual records, information about more than 20,000 Aboriginal families and 7600 photographs compiled by Jan Goodacre (now Jan James) over 33 years. In 2005, the Commonwealth Government purchased the collection through the Department of Health and Ageing for the primary purpose of helping Aboriginal people to connect to family members lost during the period of government policies that separated Aboriginal families. The collection is held by the Western Australian State Government through the AHRS.
Pension Receipt Cards
The Aboriginal Pension Recipient Profile Cards were created in the 1940's -1960's and record information about Aboriginal people living in the Mid-West region in receipt of a federal pension. The cards are an index to files that were presumably held by the Department of Social Security in Geraldton. The cards were created by the Commonwealth and it is not known how they came into the possession of the AHRS. Copies of the cards are available to family members through the Family History application process.
Most of these records relate to Aboriginal affairs and are State Administrative archives. They include mission, station and personal records created by various government departments dealing with Aboriginal affairs from 1886 to 1972. The online catalogue also includes some anthropological and ethnographic records from various private collections.
Please note that the accuracy of information within the records may not always be historically accurate. If you have information that may qualify the record we would like to hear from you. Simply submit an online general enquiry with the record details and upload any support documentation.