Overview
Under the Australian Archives Act 1983 most Commonwealth records are opened to public scrutiny after twenty years (this was reduced from thirty years in 2010). But the Act also defines ‘exempt’ records that can be withheld from the public for a variety of reasons, including the defence of national security, and the protection of individual privacy. Access under the Act is not an inevitable destination, but a process that may result in records with the access status of ‘closed’.
Here you can explore these closed files. Why can't we look at them? How old are they? What are we really being protected against?
14370
closed files
on 1 January 2016
28
reasons
why these files have been closed
58
years
is the average age of these files
based on their date of their earliest content
1128
series
contain closed files
BE WARNED! This is a work in progress. It's part of an ongoing research project by Tim Sherratt (@wragge). As a result, this interface is likely to change. That said, pretty much everything should work, so feel free to poke around and see what you can find. Have fun!
Here's some examples…
Series |
Control Symbol |
Title |
Contents dates |
C31 |
NS68/279B |
TITLE: Shark Point D/G range. Rolling and stray field range. Fluxgate girders, markers etc. CATEGORY: microform FORMAT: 35mm aperture card STATUS: preservation master |
1959 - 1989 |
MP98/1 |
2/305/285 |
U K Steel Industry Proposal for the protection of |
1947 - 1947 |
A6119 |
73 |
CHANDLER, Herbert, Bovyll - Volume 3 |
1953 - 1953 |
B4418 |
BING WE |
BING, WILLIAM EDWARD [Regimental No.114] - Boer War Dossier |
1983 - 1983 |
A2487 |
1921/11170 |
[Passages for family of George Moore] |
1920 - 1921 |
PP946/1 |
MKM39643 |
COOPER [aka HAYES], Eric Allan - Service Number - 3/400876 |
1952 - 1979 |
D363 |
HB16264 PART 2 |
LOCKWOOD, Thelma beneficiary of LOCKWOOD, Stanley Roy - Service Number - 1376 |
1988 - 1992 |
A7452 |
A391 PART 2 |
Hope Commission inquiry [RCSIA] into Sheraton Hotel incident |
1983 - 1989 |
A1838 |
3016/10/1 PART 2 |
Cambodia - Relations with Australia |
1959 - 1963 |
PP893/1 |
MX15110 |
John Herbert JOLLY |
1916 - 1975 |
P107 |
HB16820 PART 1 |
PRICE, Millicent |
1988 - 1990 |
A3092 |
221/11/9 PART 7C |
Indonesia |
01 Sep 1964 - 30 Sep 1964 |
A432 |
1931/181 |
Bank guarantees to Customs Dept, guaranteeing payments due by Licensed Customs Agents. |
1931 - 1931 |
B26 |
MX72550 PART 1 |
VENABLES, Clive |
1941 - 1993 |
A437 |
1950/6/577 |
Masolini, Raffaele |
1950 - 1951 |
AWM54 |
179/1/20 PART 6 |
[Chemical Warfare - General:] Australian Military Forces: Technical Notes and Staff Notes - Chemical Warfare, May 1944 [Part 6 of 19] |
1944 - 1944 |
D4082 |
WB338 |
Angelique Kathleen Wittwer |
1964 - 1966 |
B26 |
MX183655 PART 1 |
Glynn, Kevin Joseph Patrick |
1940 - 1982 |
F10 |
L259 |
Agricultural Experiment Farm Advisory Committee,1954-1955 |
1954 - 1955 |
A1533 |
1955/4342 |
Lawrence James CHUBB |
1955 - 1955 |