External view of the Victorian Archives Centre
About Us

About Public Record Office Victoria

Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of State and Local Governments in Victoria. We hold over 100 km of digital and physical records from 1836 to the present day. Many records are accessible to the public either online or for viewing in our Reading Rooms. PROV also sets mandatory recordkeeping standards for state and local government agencies and provides advice on recordkeeping to government.

Visit us

Our Locations
Victorian Archives Centre
99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne

Monday to Friday 10am to 4:30pm and every second and last Saturday of the month. Closed public holidays. Visit

Ballarat Archives Centre
Eureka Centre, 102 Stawell St, South Ballarat Central

Monday to Thursday 10am to 4:30pm. Closed public holidays. Visit

Bendigo Regional Archives Centre
1st Floor Bendigo Library, 251-259 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo

Wednesday and Thursday 10am to 4pm. Closed public holidays. Visit

Upcoming closure: Wednesday 20 March 2024.

Geelong Library and Heritage Centre
51 Little Malop Street, Geelong

Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm. Closed weekends, Mondays and public holidays. Visit

What's On

Events, talks, exhibitions and publications
Article

Discovering an archive

In turn of the twentieth-century Melbourne, a pioneering network of women at the Mission to Seafarers called the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild (LHLG) supported sailors who risked their lives at sea. The deeds of this remarkable group of women were almost forgotten until a set of dusty old boxes were discovered under the mission’s theatre. Read the story online in Provenance Journal.
a 1940s ad of a woman with a camera and the word 'kodak'
Exhibition

Belongings: objects of a family life

We’re surrounded by objects, but have you thought about how important these things are in your life, or what they represent? This exhibition at the Old Treasury Building looks at the stories behind some of the objects that have shaped the family in Australia over the decades. It considers how families make and preserve cultural traditions through craft, food, and belief.
03 Jan 10:00 AM - 31 Dec 16:00 PM
bridge over Yarra River
Article

Deleting freeways

Read Sebastian Gurciullo's article exploring community resistance to the F2 freeway proposal that emerged in the wake of the 1969 Melbourne Transportation plan.
girl holing object
Exhibition

Disrupt, persist, invent

From the 8th of December 2023, the National Archives of Australia presents their 'Disrupt, persist, invent' exhibition at the Victorian Archives Centre, North Melbourne. 
08 Dec 10:00 AM - 05 Apr 04:30 AM

Material in the Public Record Office Victoria archival collection contains words and descriptions that reflect attitudes and government policies at different times which may be insensitive and upsetting

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be aware the collection and website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

PROV provides advice to researchers wishing to access, publish or re-use records about Aboriginal Peoples