Koorie People and Places

• I Want to Find Records About My Family or About Myself

• Family History at PROV

• Researching Koorie History at PROV

• Koorie Records Unit

• We’d Love to Hear From You…  

• Publications

• Useful Links

I Want to Find Records About My Family or About Myself

If you are starting a search for records about yourself or Aboriginal family members you may find the following resources useful:

Finding Your Story is a resource manual to assist people who have been separated from their Koorie families in Victoria find government and non-government records about themselves, their families and their communities.  If you were born interstate and moved to Victoria, Finding Your Story will also provide contact details for interstate organisations that might be able to assist you.

The Bringing them Home Name Index has been developed by National Archives of Australia (NAA).  It is a valuable resource for locating records about Indigenous people in the NAA collection.

You can contact the Koorie Records Unit on 9348 5773 or at koorie.records@prov.vic.gov.au to find out more about accessing this index.

The Koorie Family History Service at the Koorie Heritage Trust, Melbourne, can offer specialist advice and information on locating records about your family.

Link Up Victoria provides a range of services to assist people who want to find their Koorie families or wish to learn about their Aboriginal ancestry, including assistance with locating records.

Click here for some Frequently Asked Questions about accessing records about yourself or Koorie family members.

Find out more about how we can assist you with Getting Started in your research at PROV.

Family History at PROV

PROVguide 65 Koorie Family History Research at PROV provides information about the main records used by Koorie people to research family history at PROV.

Some records about Aboriginal people, from 1838 – 1851, are available on microfilm in our Reading Rooms.  You can also access a range of online resources such as PROV’s Births Deaths and Marriages Index, and Inquest Index in our Reading Rooms.

Researching Koorie History at PROV

What kinds of records are available?

A range of Victorian government departments have created records about Aboriginal people, their communities and the places they have lived in.  Government records are also a valuable source of information about changing policies towards Aboriginal people.

PROV holds a large number of the records created by government departments about Aboriginal Affairs most of which are related to the 1830s – 1860s period.  Contact National Archives of Australia for information about locating government records created about Aboriginal people in Victoria from around the 1860s onwards. 

The Reading Room at the Victorian Archives Centre, North Melbourne, is shared by Public Record Office Victoria and National Archives of Australia, which makes research easier as Victorian and Commonwealth governments have both created records relevant to your research.  You can also visit PROV’s Reading Room at the Ballarat Archives Centre.

The following guides outline some of the main government departments involved in Aboriginal Affairs, and the records they have created about Aboriginal people in Victoria. 

PROVguide 65 Koorie Family History Research at PROV

PROVguide 67 Aboriginal Records at PROV

Copies of all our PROVguides are available online and in our Reading Rooms.

For more information and ideas for research at Public Record Office Victoria you can explore these research pathways:

Getting Started

Finding Records at PROV

Family and Local History

Exhibitions and Online Learning

Koorie Records Unit

Public Record Office Victoria provides a range of information services and programs through our Koorie Records Unit.  The Koorie Records Unit at PROV can provide assistance and advice for those wanting to research Koorie family history or Victorian Aboriginal history at PROV and NAA.  The Koorie Records Unit is currently undertaking an Indexing Project to index names in the early Aboriginal Protectorate records held in the PROV collection.  This indexing will make it easier to access records about Koorie people, families and communities.

We’d Love to Hear From You…

Staff from PROV’s Koorie Records Unit can help with any enquiries or you can visit our Reading Rooms and discuss your research with our Reference staff. 

Publications

Finding Your Story

Cost: $34.95

Finding Your Story is also available through the Koorie Heritage Trust and Information Victoria.  Members of the Stolen Generations can receive a copy at no cost by contacting the Koorie Family History Service at the Koorie Heritage Trust, or Link Up Victoria.

My Heart Is Breaking: A joint guide to records about Aboriginal people in the Public Record Office and the National Archives, Victorian Regional Office.

Cost: $15.35

Private Lives Public Records: Family History Resources at Public Record Office Victoria.

Cost: $19.95

These publications are available for use in PROV’s Reading Rooms, at no charge.  Find out more about Publications available through PROV.