State Archives Collection

The State Archives catalogue is a powerful single search tool that provides access to the 1.9 million items in the State Archives Collection and the 1.7 million Online Index entries in the one place

A quick walk through the access points for Collections on the Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) website

Explore the State Archives Collection on the MHNSW website

How to find and download images from our catalogue

Did you know that we hold films in the NSW State Archives Collection? We are working hard to preserve and digitise our films. We take you through some of the films we have digitised and uploaded to YouTube

Archives are the 'raw material of history'. The State archives document the business of government in New South Wales - and its interaction with people and groups in our society - from the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 until today

Reading and interpreting handwritten archival documents

Tagging helps you quickly return to items and make them more discoverable to other users

Make the most of your visit & pre-order your records in advance. Pre-ordering gives us time to process your requests & have the records ready before you arrive

Your responsibilities when using our facilities and how to handle original (uncopied) State archives. Our reading room staff are also on hand to provide expert and professional advice to help you get the most out of your visit.

This webinar explains the top-numbering filing system used by many government departments in the 19th and early 20th centuries, giving you the tools to understand this essential concept of archival research

Our new catalogue is a powerful single search tool that provides access to the 1.9 million items in the State Archives Collection and the 1.7 million online index entries

Find out about records recently digitised and now accessible online, including glass-plate negatives from the 1800s and early 1900s, insolvency files and school files