On this page:
Enter the family name of a person into the Family name field.
Select a category of records from the Category of records dropdown menu.
Choose how many results to retrieve per page, or use the default setting of 20 results per page.
Once you have entered your search options, use the Search button or the Enter key on your keyboard.
As a default, NameSearch searches using the name exactly as entered.
If you enter more than one family name, your results will be only those where all of the terms appear in this exact order. For example, if you enter 'Kingsford Smith', your search will only retrieve entries for 'Kingsford Smith', not 'Smith Kingsford', 'Smith', or 'Kingsford'.
Similarly, if you search on a plural name, you will not retrieve singular version of that name. For example, 'Boyles' will not retrieve entries for 'Boyle', and vice versa.
The family name of the person you're searching for might not always be spelled correctly in the titles of items in the Archives collection.
To retrieve variations of family names, you can uncheck the box for Use exact spelling. Then your search will include common variations such as:
Please note that NameSearch does not include every variation for every name. You might need to search more than once, using various spellings.
Another way to retrieve variations of family names - especially if you are not sure of the spelling - is to search using a wildcard.
The Family name field is not case sensitive. You can type a name in upper case or lower case or in any combination, and it will make no difference to your results.
You can use apostrophes and hyphens (without spaces between the words). For example, 'O'Brien' and 'Van-Nooten' will work, but 'Van - Nooten' will not.
You can not use other forms of punctuation such as ~ ` ! @ # $ ^ ( ) _ + = [ ] { }| \ : ; /.
To retrieve multiple variations of a name in one search, use an asterisk - '*' as a wildcard character. The wildcard is used at the end of a string of letters to retrieve database entries that contain names with a common stem. For example, if you entered 'Hen*', you would retrieve database entries containing names like Henrickson, as well as those for Hen.
You must enter at least three characters before the wildcard. The more characters you enter before using the wildcard, the more precise your search will be. For example, if you entered 'Conno*', you would retrieve a much smaller number of names, such as Connor, Connors, and Connolly, than if you entered 'Conn*', which would retrieve all of the above as well as Conn, Conner, Conners, and so on.
The first option in the Categories of records dropdown menu is 'All records'. If you choose this option, you will be redirected from NameSearch and your search will be conducted on the entire contents of RecordSearch.
NameSearch uses the following categories to locate records about people. A search on a broader category, eg 'Australian Defence Forces personnel', will include records of all forces, in all conflicts. If you know that the person served in the Army in the Boer War, you would choose the 'Boer War' category.
Australian Defence Forces personnel
Army personnel 1901-75
Boer War
World War I
World War II
Pre-WWI, interwar, post-WWII
Air Force personnel 1921-75
Navy personnel 1911-75
Other defence records
Service pay
RAAF accident reports
Australian prisoners of war
Courts martial
Repatriation cases (Boer War & WWI)
War gratuity
Civilian service
Army Inventions Directorate
Papua New Guinea evacuees
Immigration and naturalisation
Other records
Security and intelligence
Arts and science
Australian Broadcasting
Commission
Commonwealth Literary
Fund
Copyright, patents &
trademarks
High Court cases
Australian Defence Forces personnel
Choose 'Australian Defence Forces personnel' to search for records relating to personnel in all forces - Army, Navy, Air Force.
Not all servicemen and women are listed on RecordSearch. If you cannot locate the Army personnel records of the person you are searching for, please contact our reference service for assistance.
Army personnel 1901-75
Choose 'Army personnel 1901-75' to search for personnel records of all people who served in the Australian Army in:
as well as those who did not see active service overseas.
Boer War
Choose 'Boer War' to search the personnel records of those who enlisted to serve in the Boer War in Commonwealth contingents established after Federation in 1901.
This category does not include the personnel records of those who served in the Australian colonial contingents or in British Imperial contingents. If you do not know in which contingent a person served, you can search the Australian War Memorial's Boer War Nominal Roll.
World War I
Choose 'World War I' to search for personnel records of those who served in:
Records relating to Royal Australian Navy service in World War I are not covered by the World War I category. For these records, you should choose the category for Navy personnel.
Records relating to service in the Permanent Military Forces and the Army Militia in World War I are not covered by the 'World War I' category. For these records, you should use the category 'Pre-WWI, interwar, post-WWII'.
Please note, where individuals served in both World War I and World War II, their World War I service record was sometimes incorporated into their World War II service record. In such instances, if you cannot locate an individual's service record using the 'World War I' category, you may have more success using the 'World War II' category.
World War II
Choose 'World War II' to find records of personnel who served in the Second Australian Imperial Forces and the Citizen's Military Forces.
Records relating to service in the Permanent Military Forces and the Army Militia in World War II are not covered by this category. For these records, you should use the 'Pre-WWI, interwar, post-WWII' category.
For personnel records of those who served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in World War II, you should select the category for Air Force personnel. For the records of those who served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in World War II, use the category for Navy personnel.
Pre-WWI, interwar, post-WWII
Use the 'Pre-WWI, interwar, post-WWII' category to search for the personnel records of those Australians who did not serve in the Boer War, World War I or World War II. The records cover the periods:
Air Force personnel 1921-75
Choose this category to find personnel records of servicemen and women who served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The RAAF was established in 1921.
These personnel records include servicemen and women who did not see active service overseas, as well as those who served in:
Please note, to locate the personnel records of those who served in the Australian Flying Corp during World War I, you should use 'World War I' under the category for Army personnel.
Navy personnel 1911-75
Choose this category to find personnel records of servicemen and women who served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The Navy Office was established in 1911.
The personnel records include servicemen and women did not see service overseas, as well as those who served in:
To locate the personnel records of those who served in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force and the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train during World War I, you should use 'World War I' under the category for Army personnel.
To locate records relating to Merchant Navy service, please contact our reference service for assistance. These records are not listed by name on RecordSearch.
Choose this category to find records created by the Department of Defence - other than personnel records - in which information about people can be found. For example, you could find records about:
Not all records are listed on RecordSearch. If you cannot locate the records you are searching for, please contact our reference service for assistance.
Service pay
Choose this category to search all pay and allotment history records created for pay accounting purposes by the armed services. These records contain personal details about individual soldiers, officers, nurses and some war correspondents and representatives of organisations like the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Red Cross and Salvation Army. The National Archives' holdings of pay records relate primarily to World War I and World War II service. However, some pay records exist for the period from the Boer War to after World War II.
RAAF accident reports
Choose 'RAAF accident reports' to search for:
Courts of Inquiry were conducted to determine causes of accidents and incidents, including losses of aircraft during air operations or as a result of enemy action. As well as an inquiry report (the 'findings' of the Court of Inquiry), files may contain reports from engineers, coroners, eyewitnesses, survivors, and squadron personnel.
Casualty files were created for every member who was killed or severely wounded. As well as details of the incident, files may contain reports from war graves investigators, eyewitnesses, survivors, the Red Cross and Squadron personnel.
Many of the casualty files that covered straightforward or minor inquiries were destroyed, as they were of no ongoing use. Most of the records that remain document unusual cases, such as those involving experimental aircraft, incidents where members of the public have been killed, cases which attracted publicity in the press, or when many lives were lost.
Australian prisoners of war
Use the 'Australian prisoners of war' category to find Australian prisoners of war (POWs) in Japanese and European theatres of war in World War II, including:
Courts martial
The 'Courts martial' category will search records of all courts-martial proceedings held by the three armed services from 1901, including records of Japanese war crimes trials.
Repatriation cases (Boer War & WWI)
The 'Repatriation cases (Boer War & WWI)' category will search on personal case files created by the Repatriation Commission for ex-servicemen (or their dependants) who served in the Boer War or World War I.
For those who served in the Boer War, the Archives holds:
For those who served in World War I, the Archives holds records about:
This category also covers applications and agreements, together with testimonials, of distressed Australians who had applied to return to Australia from South Africa in 1907 under a repatriation scheme. Many of the applicants were former members of Commonwealth and state contingents who had served in the Boer War, or had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the war's end.
War gratuity
The 'War gratuity' category covers bonuses (war gratuities) paid to members of the forces after both world wars in recognition of their service. These were distinct from pensions granted under the Australian Soldiers' Repatriation Act 1920.
Personnel who were imprisoned following conviction by court-martial or civil court, or who were otherwise cashiered or discharged from the forces during this period, were disqualified from receiving a war gratuity.
Civilian service
If you select the 'Civilian service records' category, your search will include information relating to members of several civilian organisations who were officially involved in the war effort during World War II.
The National Archives only holds the records for those organisations that had an administrative connection with the Australian Government. In most cases the records are service cards. The Archives' collection of civilian service records is incomplete. For most organisations, records in only a few states and territories have survived. The organisations for which the Archives does hold records include:
Please note that the National Archives does not hold civilian service (personnel) records for the following organisations:
Army Inventions Directorate
Use 'Army Inventions Directorate' to find records of the Army Inventions Directorate, established in 1942. The records comprise suggestions and proposals for inventions submitted by military personnel and civilians, and include:
Papua New Guinea evacuees
Use 'Papua New Guinea evacuees' to find records of the New Guinea Trade Agency relating to the evacuation of administrative personnel and residents from New Guinea and Papua in the period 1941-49. Evacuees included women, children and men over military age. They were interviewed during their journey to Australia, or on arrival. The records contain many personal details and often document evacuees' movement in Australia.
Immigration and naturalisation
If you choose the 'Immigration and naturalisation' category, you will search records relating to migration to Australia, such as migrant selection documents and naturalisation (citizenship) case files.
Naturalisation certificates are not listed by name on RecordSearch. If you require a naturalisation certificate, please contact our reference service for assistance.
The National Archives does not retain Australian passport applications.
Alien registration records are not covered by the 'Immigration and naturalisation' category. For these records, use 'Security and intelligence', under the 'Other records' category.
If you cannot locate the immigration or naturalisation records of the person you are searching for, please contact our reference service for assistance.
'Other records' is a broad category that covers records about:
Please note that not all records are listed in RecordSearch. If you can't locate the records your searching for, please contact our reference service for assistance.
Security and intelligence
If you choose 'Security and intelligence', your search will retrieve:
Arts and science
The 'Arts and science' category includes records relating to:
High Court cases
This category includes:
When you conduct a search, NameSearch will tell you how many matches there are for your search terms. You can Display the results, if any, or Refine this search result. If you display the results, you will see all the matching items on one or more pages. If an item is already digitised, you can use the link to View digital copy.
If there are too many results to view, use the button to Refine this search result.
No results or no relevant results
If the family name you entered does not retrieve any records (ie the number of matches is 0), you should first check that you have typed it correctly. To check, use the button to View previous searches, or simply conduct a New name search and try again. See Family names for details on using this field.
Check that you have selected the relevant category of records. For the kinds of records contained in each category, see Categories of records.
Your search might have been too specific. Try using a broader category, or the 'All records' category. But remember that searching 'all records' means searching all the database entries in RecordSearch, rather than the limited set of entries in a NameSearch category.
Please note that RecordSearch describes only about 10% of our collection at the level of individual items. If you cannot find the records you want, contact our reference service for assistance.
If your original search used the category of 'Australian Defence Forces personnel records' (or a narrower category within this field), you will have the option to refine your search result by given names and/or service number.
If your original search used any other category, you will have the option to refine your search result by given names and/or dates.
Given names are not always included in item titles or item descriptions. And when they are, they may be in an abbreviated form. For example, a man whose given name is George may be listed as George, Geo or by his initial, G. He may be recorded by his family name alone. A married woman's given name may be recorded as her husband's given name or initials, eg Mrs George Smith, Mrs Geo Smith, or Mrs G Smith.
To increase your chances of successfully locating the records you want, you should refine your search in more than one way. First, try refining your search using a given name, or more than one given name.
Wildcards
To retrieve variations of given names you may need to search using a wildcard. For example, if you entered 'Geo*' you would retrieve database entries containing Geo, Geoff, Geoffrey, Georg, George, Georgina and Georgiou. Alternatively, you may need to try different spellings.
Case
The given name field is not case sensitive. You can type a name in upper case or lower case or in any combination, and it will make no difference to your results.
Punctuation
You can use apostrophes and hyphens (without spaces between the words) in the given name field. For example, 'D'Arcy' and 'Anne-Marie' will work, but 'Anne - Marie' will not.
You can not use other forms of punctuation such as ~ ` ! @ # $ ^ ( ) _ + = [ ] { }| \ : ; /.
Searching using more than one given name
Next to the given name field is a dropdown menu with options to search using:
If you have entered only one given name, you can ignore this dropdown menu. Otherwise, make a selection.
All words will search for all of the words you typed. For example, a search for 'John James' will retrieve records that contain 'John' and 'James', even if these terms are separated by other words.
Any words will search for any of the words you typed. For example, a search for 'John James' will retrieve records that include either 'John' or 'James', or both, even if these terms are separated by other words.
Phrase will search only for instances where the terms appear in that exact order. For example, a search for 'John James' will only retrieve records where these two terms occur exactly as entered (ie not 'James John'), and with no other words in between.
If you are presented with the option of refining your search using a service number, you must enter the service number without any spaces. For example, you would enter 'NX12345' not 'NX 12345'.
You can enter the first part of a service number and a wildcard to broaden the range of your search. For example, if you entered 'NX123*', you would retrieve all defence personnel records with the family name you used in your initial search and a service number that begins with NX123, such as NX123 or NX1236342.
If you do not know the person's service number, you might find it on the Australian War Memorial's nominal rolls of people who served in various conflicts , the World War II nominal roll , or the Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans.
If you are presented with the option of refining your search by date, you can enter a year or a range of years. For example, a search for '1920' will retrieve all records for the category of records you selected that have the family name you used in your initial search and information from 1920. If you refine your search by the dates '1920-1925', you will retrieve all records that contain information from 1920-25.
Enter dates in the following format:
Refined search yields no results
If your refined search does not retrieve any records (ie the number of matches is 0), you might have imposed too many limits on your search.
If you entered more than one given name, try entering only one. Or search with a wildcard , eg 'Geo*'.
If you refined your search using a single year in the dates option, try expanding the range of dates by entering two years with a hyphen (-) in between. For example, if you are seeking records from World War I, enter the date range '1914-1918', instead of '1917'.
If you refined your search using a service number, check that the service number is correct, or try using a wildcard.
As RecordSearch catalogues only about 10% of our collection, please contact our reference service for assistance if you cannot find the records you want.
If you are a registered user, any searches you conduct in RecordSearch (including NameSearch) are saved for six months.
If you are a guest user, your searches will be saved for a single session, ie until you log out.
Use the button at the top of the NameSearch screen to View previous searches. If you are logged in as a registered user, you can choose to review your searches from:
For all searches conducted in the past week, and - in the case of people using NameSearch as a guest - for searches conducted during this session, you can:
For registered users, if you choose 'All searches', you will see information about your previous searches, but not the buttons to display or refine the search results. To repeat any of these searches, make a note of the search terms and return to NameSearch or RecordSearch. The search terms are listed in a technical form. If you do wish to repeat a search and need assistance in interpreting the technical language, contact the reference service.
From the NameSearch screen, there are links to RecordSearch (General search), Passenger search and PhotoSearch. Use the button at the top of the NameSearch page to Exit RecordSearch.