Australia Genealogy

Oceania

Australia

Guide to Australia ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Australia Research Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder Finding Town of Origin
Record Types
Business Cemeteries Census Church Directories Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Convict Records Court Records Directories Emigration & Immigration Heraldry Land and Property Medical Records Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship	Newspapers Obituaries Occupations Online Records Orphans and Orphanages Periodicals Probate Records Public Records Religious Records School Records Taxation Vital Records Voting Registers Websites
Australia Background
Biography Church History Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Gazetteers Genealogy	Historical Geography History Languages Maps For Further Reading
Cultural Groups
Cultural Groups Indigenous Peoples
Local Research Resources
Archives & Libraries Societies Family History Centers

Country Information

European explorers began arriving in what is now Australia in the 17th century. In 1770, Great Britain claimed Australia as a territory. The "First Fleet" of European settlers arrived in 1788 with ships of convicts. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. English is the official language.

Getting Started

Getting Started with Australia Research Links to articles on getting started with Australia research. Research Strategies Australian states' civil death certificates Family History Library Research Outline for Australia Australia BDM Civil Registration Index Online Class

Australia Research Tools Links to articles and websites about Australia research. Record Finder Archives and Libraries BDM registry details and certificate costs Biographical Database of Australia - growing collection See More Research Tools

Australia Online Genealogy Records

Ask the Community

Finding Your Ancestors' Town in Australia

• Genealogical records are organized by geographical locality. Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level. To search these records, you must know the town where your ancestors lived.
• If you do not know your ancestors' town, follow the advice in the Wiki article, Australia Finding Town of Origin, to search a variety of records that might provide that information.

Australia Clickable Map

When doing Australian research, it is helpful to know where one's family or ancestors lived in Australia and to know when they died. Click on a state name or on the map below to learn about research in an Australian state or territory.

Jurisdictions

States

After federation many governmental functions whose records are of interest to family historians remained the responsibility of the States. For example, the registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages is a State function; the Commonwealth was only responsible for these functions in the territories until the territory achieved responsible self-government. Click on a state below to go to the state Wiki article listing more information.

New South Wales (NSW) Queensland (QLD) South Australia (SA)

Tasmania (TAS) Victoria (VIC) Western Australia (WA)

Territories

• Australian Capital Territory(ACT)
• Jervis Bay Territory (JBT)
• Northern Territory
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands (uninhabited)
• Australian Antarctic Territory
• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Coral Sea Islands (population: 4)
• Heard Island and McDonald Islands (uninhabited)
• Norfolk Island

Former Australian Territories

The New Zealand Islands (1788-1840) (as part of the Colony of New South Wales) Territory of Papua (1906–42)

Territory of New Guinea (1920–42) Territory of Papua & New Guinea (1942–71)

Territory of Papua New Guinea (1971–75) Territory of Nauru (1920–68)

More Australia Research Tools and Resources

Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in Australia.

• The National Library of Australia - On-site access to genealogical indexes, databases, full-text ejournals, subject guides and websites, you can, after registering for a Library Card, access a variety of items online these include; 19th Century British Library Newspapers, London Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985
• Irish Newspaper Archives - includes The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 and Indexes of Australian newspapers.
• The National Library of Australia's collection of digitised historic newspapers - contains over 8 million pages and more than 81 million articles available to search or browse and read on-line.
• RootsChat Australian Resources and help pages - Free, Australian Resources and help pages
• Project Gutenberg - a free library of Australiana ebooks.
• Ireland-Australia Transportation database - Incomplete for ever convict, created by National Archives of Ireland, convicts transported from Ireland to Australia starting in 1788, database is compiled from transportation registers, convict reference files and petitions to government for pardon or commutation of sentence.
• Australians in the Boer War (Oz-Boer) Database Project - free online search to identifying books, journals, webpages and other ephemera for Australian soldiers and nurses involved in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
• South African Graves - published by the Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra, Australia, database of burial and memorial locations of Australians who died during the second South African Anglo-Boer War, 1899 – 1902.
• Australia BDM Civil Registration Index FamilySearch Help Center lesson (Microsoft browser may be required for viewing).
• The Digital Panopticon: Tracing convicts from England sent to penal colonies (largely Australia).

FamilySearch Resources

Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.

• Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
• Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
• Historical Records all FamilySearch historical records about Australia.
• Family History Center locator map