Research Centre
Planning a visit to the Research Centre
Visitors can access the Research Centre's collections and other services in the reading room. The Research Centre's reading room is located on the lower ground floor of the Memorial. In the reading room you will find:
- Reference officers to help you with your research
- A reference collection of books about to Australia's military history
- Access to databases and finding aids to search the Memorial's collections
- Reference copies of the Memorial's film and sound collections
- Quiet areas for research, including power points for laptops
Before you arrive
To make the most of your time at the Research Centre, it is a good idea to prepare before you arrive. It will help if you:
- Have a clear idea of what you want to find out
- Search the collection databases for items you may wish to look at
- Contact the Research Centre for research advice
- Obtain personal service records of service personnel you wish to research from the National Archives of Australia
- Fill in our Client Registration form to get a client number. You will need this if you want to look at records.
Please keep in mind
- The Research Centre's collections focus on Australia at war
- We do not hold personal service records, they are held by the National Archives of Australia
- Access to official records is in accordance with the Archives Act 1983
- Private records may have restrictions placed on them by donors
- Copies of collection items are supplied in accordance with the Copyright Act
- Access to other Memorial collections (for example art, military heraldry and military technology) not on display is by prior arrangement with the curators of each collection.
Visiting the Research Centre
Most of the Research Centre's collections are held in our archives and need to be retrieved for you to view. It typically takes 30 minutes for collection items held onsite to be retrieved. Some of the collection is held offsite and it may take a fortnight to be retrieved. If you have limited time available for your visit you can contact the Research Centre and arrange to have items retrieved before you arrive.
Allow sufficient time to undertake your research. Please take retrieval times into consideration. It is difficult to estimate how much time you need to allocate for your research. Generally one day would be adequate for basic research, such as reading through a unit war diary.
Please bring material that will support your research. For example if researching an individual, bring copies of their service record.
Contact us
If you have any questions about visiting or your research, please contact the Research Centre.
