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 closures: Wednesday 1 November, Wednesday 27 December and Thursday 28 December 2023. 

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
Emery Gordon Medor and Zinga Lee
Talk

An evening of mystery in the Eastern Arcade

Travel through time with Dr Alexandra Roginski and Professor Andrew Singleton to the arcades and byways of inner Melbourne in the early twentieth century. Meet glamorous figures who combined the discredited science of phrenology (head reading) with astrology, palmistry and fortune-telling, attracting scandal and police stings. 
31 Oct 18:30 PM - 31 Oct 19:30 PM
Royal Melbourne Hospital
Exhibition

Collective City

Featuring contemporary street photography alongside historic images from Victoria's archives, this exhibition explores moments of social connection and disconnection in Melbourne. Now showing at the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery.
27 Jul 17:00 PM - 01 Dec 17:00 PM
people on computers
Talk

Accessing PROV records online

From 2-3.30pm, this training session at the Ballarat Archives Centre will show you how to select and order records through the PROV online catalogue. Explore the way archival records are classified and made accessible to researchers online. 
20 Sep 14:00 PM - 20 Sep 15:30 PM
Creative in Residence
Training

Creative in Residence Program - Info sessions

The 2024 Creative in Residence Program at the Victorian Archives Centre is an opportunity to explore the state’s rich public archival resources with personal assistance from Public Record Office Victoria. The Creative will receive a fee of $15,000 plus up to $10,000 for resources. Applications can be submitted by artists, musicians, creative writers, performers, photographers or creative collectives.
21 Sep 18:30 PM - 22 Sep 14:00 PM

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