About PhotoSearch

What is PhotoSearch?
Copyright, reproduction and use
Quality and size of images
If PhotoSearch is unavailable

What is PhotoSearch?

PhotoSearch is the National Archive' online photographic catalogue containing digital images of photographs from the collections in all state and territory offices of the Archives. It is the main research tool used by researchers and staff to access the photographic collection. Several thousand images are added to PhotoSearch each month.

Use PhotoSearch to:

• search for images by words or phrases in their titles, or by the date when they were taken
• browse images by subject
• purchase copies of the images you find

Help is available under the link 'Search Tips'.

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Copyright, reproduction and use

Copyright in most images appearing on PhotoSearch is owned by the Commonwealth government.

Personal use: You may download, display, print and reproduce these images in unaltered form for your personal non-commercial use where copyright is owned by the Commonwealth government. It is not necessary to obtain our permission to do this, but we do ask that you acknowledge the National Archives as the source and cite the image number.

Reproduction: You will need permission to reproduce the images where copyright is owned by the Commonwealth government or use them in any other way not permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. Contact the National Archives about obtaining permission at copyright@naa.gov.au

Non-Commonwealth copyright: If copyright in an image is not owned by the Commonwealth government, it is your responsibility as the person wishing to use the image to obtain clearance from the copyright holder. Where we hold relevant information we will help you determine the copyright status of a particular image.

Fees and charges: There is no permissions fee or charge for downloading, using or reproducing digital copies obtained from PhotoSearch. You only pay if you request a photographic print or high resolution digital copy.

Citation: On any occasion you reproduce an image from the National Archives collection we ask that you acknowledge the National Archives as the source and cite the image number.

For more information see Copyright and Use.

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Quality and size of images

You will notice differences in the quality of the digital copies displayed in PhotoSearch. This is because the images have been scanned at different times, for different purposes and at different resolutions. Other factors that may affect the quality of the viewing copy include the type of browser and monitor you are using, and your display settings.

You cannot judge the quality of the original image by the quality of the viewing copy displayed on PhotoSearch.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at imagingservices@naa.gov.au.

High quality prints or high resolution digital copies of images you find on PhotoSearch may be ordered by clicking the 'Purchase copy' link that accompanies each image.

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If PhotoSearch is unavailable

If PhotoSearch is temporarily unavailable, a message will be displayed asking you to try again later. Until it is available again you can view thumbnails of the images it contains through PictureAustralia.

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