The Latest Breaking News from National Archives of Australia

Gough Whitlam believed John Kerr’s wife played a key role in The Dismissal. Did she?

The Dismissal still looms as Australia’s greatest political crisis, 50 years on. The familiar story centres on four figures. Governor general Sir John Kerr – who, on November 11 1975, sacked prime minister Gough Whitlam. Malcolm Fraser, the opposition leader who blocked the budget to force the election he would…

The Conversation · Nov 9, 2025

How migrant stories and contributions have shaped Australian TV since the 1950s

The introduction of television in Australia in 1956 coincided with mass post-war immigration, initially from Britain and Europe, and later from Asia, the Americas and Africa. Both played a significant role in forming modern society.

The Conversation · Sep 3, 2025

Gold rush Melbourne and post-war boom: how Australia overcame housing shortages in the past

As part of their federal election campaign, the Coalition announced plans to limit the number of international students able to commence study each year to 240,000, “focused on driving […] housing availability and affordability”.

The Conversation · Apr 9, 2025

What First Nations Australians think of King Charles III's coronation

King Charles III's coronation has stirred up mixed emotions among Australians, but what do First Nations people think of the event?

ABC News · May 5, 2023

The Montevideo Maru has been found but the wrecks of other 'hell ships' like the Rakuyo Maru are still missing

The discovery last week of the wreck of the Montevideo Maru has prompted renewed focus on the Japanese prison ships of World War II. Many were sunk by Allied submarines, sending thousands of their comrades to their deaths.

ABC News · Apr 29, 2023

The 'forgettables': 5 Australian prime ministers you may not know much about

The idea of a “forgotten prime minister” may seem laughable. For Australian historians, it is the governed rather than the governors who need rescuing “from the enormous condescension of posterity” as the English historian E. P. Thompson famously put it.

The Conversation · Jan 3, 2023

Tampa, Bali bombings, 9/11 and the Kyoto Protocol: today's cabinet paper release shows what worried Australia in 2002

Every year, the National Archives of Australia releases the cabinet records from 20 years earlier, and this year’s batch is out today.

The Conversation · Jan 1, 2023

'No regrets' over refugee plan: Vanstone

The Howard government's approach to refugees and asylum seekers in 2002 has been outlined in cabinet papers released by the National Archives of Australia.

AAP · Dec 31, 2022

Carl 'Charles' Webb's prisoner-of-war brother bears resemblance to Somerton Man

Researchers have found a photograph of Carl Webb's brother, who died a prisoner of war, and he bears a "reasonable" resemblance to the Somerton Man.

ABC News · Aug 2, 2022

Independence day: Labor vows to end ABC board-stacking and ministerial interventions

No more captain’s picks or complaint calls about negative stories, communications minister says. Plus: the ‘sixty-three, sixty-four, seventy-five’ Wimbledon match

The Guardian - AU · Jul 8, 2022