Public Record Office Victoria

Every year on the 1st of January, hundreds of state archival records are made public as part of Public Record Office Victoria’s annual Section 9 openings. The 1st of January 2025 openings include the 1949 files of a Ferntree Gully bank robbery and a Pentridge prison escape. Also opened for the first time are three boxes of files collated by the Victorian Railways Commissioners Board of Inquiry into the 1969 Violet Town train crash. 

This year we celebrate International Volunteer Day in December with huge news from our volunteer team - they've just completed their multi-year project to list the central registered correspondence of the Department of Education, dating back to 1873! Congratulations to all of our volunteers and thank you for your continued dedication to making Victoria's public records more accessible for all. 

NEW EPISODES AVAILABLE: In this award-winning podcast series by Public Record Office Victoria we interview the people who delve into public archives and uncover interesting truths about Melbourne and Victoria's past. Hear about the amazing monuments never built, Victoria's queer history, prison escapes...and new to summer 2024, the Brookside Reformatory girls and Australian women of 1920s America.

Stay up to date with the latest records and interesting stories uncovered from the collection. This blog will offer you a snapshot into the world of historical research featuring the extraordinary tales of Victorian people captured within Victorian Government archives.

Personal information is at risk when agencies do not have an effective disposal program in place and continue to hold public records for longer than the required minimum legal retention period. See our advice for managing personal information in records.