Date of tip: 11 March 2006

Source: Graeme Mount <gmount@laurentian.ca>

Location: Just behind the Old Parliament Building and in front of the new one, a landmark obvious in Canberra.

How to get there: Most visitors reach Australia via Perth or Sydney.  From either there are flights to Canberra.  Bus from Sydney to Canberra takes about four hours.  There is also a train service to Canberra.

Contact Details:  Tel: +61-2-6212-3900; fax: +61-2-6212-3999; email: ref@naa.gov.au; regular mail: PO Box 7425, Canberra BC ACT 2610.  Within Australia, tel. 1300-886-881; fax 1300-886-882.

Language: English

Getting started: It is possible simply to arrive without advance notice, place an order, and receive the documents within three hours.

Opening Hours: 9am-5pm, Monday through Saturday (except holidays) 

General working conditions: The reading room is bright and cheerful, and the staff is pleasant and competent.  All in all, it is a very good working environment.

Consultation: 

Policy on technology: Digital cameras are permitted.  Researchers cannot do their own photocopying, and the time required by the staff depends on the size of the order and the size of the backlog.  It may be necessary to mail the documents to the researcher, and the researcher in that case must pay postal costs.

Photocopy policy: it costs 50 cents per page to photocopy at the National Archives of Australia.

Particularities: The rule is that documents are released after 30 years.  However, practice is more complicated than that.  While the researcher can request documents of at least 30 years of age, they will be available only if an earlier researcher has requested them and archival authorities have decided what to release.  A researcher can request previously unused materials but may have to wait some weeks until authorities have decided whether to release them as they are or in a sanitized version.  If the researcher cannot wait, the National Archives of Australia can mail them to the researcher's home, again at expense to the researcher.   For this reason, if one's stay in Canberra is a matter of days, it may be wise to establish advance contact by telephone, fax, or email. 

How to apply for classified files: [Process of doing so; time limits to expect; any other information that can help with this process]

[If there are any forms that need to be filled out, please photograph then and send them along with your tip.]

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