Humanities and Social Sciences

Asian Studies Program

Chinese Australia

Digitised History Documents Database

The history of Australia's Chinese communities is partly recorded in official documents. These can be found among government archives, newspapers, parliamentary papers, and elsewhere. This database makes available a selection of digital copies of historical documents for research and teaching purposes.

For each document in the database there is brief precis of contents and a source reference. The documents themselves are available in two formats: as scanned copies of originals, and in searchable-text format. Some documents are presented here in both formats.

To assist teachers and researchers, some background information is also supplied on the content and context of particular documents. Background material has been drawn from the Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation (CHAF) website and two related websites - the 'Harvest of Endurance Scroll' and 'Golden Threads' sites. We acknowledge the assistance of the developers and copyright owners of these sites. This background information is available at the touch of a 'background' button at the top of each document record. To return to the CHAF site from a 'background' expedition, press the back button on your browser.

Digital documents in this database are made available for research purposes only. It is important researchers are familiar with Australian Copyright Law before reproducing any images. The Australian Copyright Council provides information about such matters.