Australia School Records

Australia has many public and private schools. Private schools include those run by orphanages and correctional institutions (industrial, training, and reform schools). Records generated by both public and private schools include admission registers, punishment registers, visitors’ books, examination books, class rolls, and minute books.

Of particular genealogical value are the school admission registers. Information about each student includes name, age or date of birth, religion, parent’s name(s), student’s occupation and residence, the name of the ship on which the student immigrated, and the date of admission and discharge from the school. Other important details may be found in the remarks column.

Research use: To find births for those not recorded in civil registration and church records, and to locate other children in a given family without the expense of civil registration. Very useful for isolated areas. Births for aborigines and island children were not recorded in civil registration. The government will accept a school record as proof of birth. These records can be used to build family groups. As all children in a family attended school they would be recorded. These records are also very useful as a immigration source as they list the place of birth of children born outside of Australia.

Teachers registers are also valuable sources. For further information, see the "Occupations" article of this wiki.

The Family History Library has collected many school records from Australia. These records are listed in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

AUSTRALIA - SCHOOLS

AUSTRALIA, [STATE] - SCHOOLS

AUSTRALIA, [STATE], [TOWN] - SCHOOLS

If your ancestor was educated at an Australian University, he or she may be recorded in the University Calendars for that university. The calendars are published annually and list staff and students of the universities. The Family History Library does not have these records, but they can be found in national archives, state archives, and other local repositories and libraries. The following source provides a list of various school records and University Calendars and where they can be found in Australia:


 * Vine Hall, Nick. Tracing Your Family History in Australia: a guide to sources. Second Edition. Albert Park, Victoria, Australia: N. Vine Hall, 1994. (Family History Library Call Number 994 D23v.)