The NSW State Archives Collection documents the daily work of the NSW Government and its agencies from 1788 to today. This vast collection records history as it happens, providing valuable and at times life-changing evidence of events and decisions that have shaped, and continue to shape, our history, communities and lives.

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Old books stored upright on shelving

About the State Archives Collection

The NSW State Archives Collection documents the daily work of the NSW Government and its agencies from 1788 to today

Old books both upright and laying flat on shelving

How to use the State Archives Collection

The largest collection of records relating to the history of NSW and the lives of its people

Black and white photo of clerks working at desks in an office, surrounded by large ledgers and pigeon holes and paperwork.

Ask an Archivist

We’re here to help you access and use our collection

NSW State Archives - Western Sydney Records Centre, 161 O'Connell Street, Kingswood, Sydney Open 2022

Plan your visit

State Archives Reading Room, Kingswood

Stories and articles

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A large group of men stand in front of a train carriage at the Eveleigh Workshops in 1917

Eveleigh Workshops during the 1917 railway strike

On 2 August 1917 the General Strike began. It started in the Randwick Rail Workshops & Eveleigh Carriage Workshops & quickly spread to other industries until about 100,000 workers were on strike

Still from the film Rescue Breathing

Rescue Breathing, 1962

An instructional film demonstrating CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation techniques

Directions for making a will, from a 1929 probate file

Probate packets: what the files can tell you

Probate packets hold the last will and testament, codicils, an inventory of assets of the estate, affidavits of death and other papers

Government Printing Office 2 - 29953 - Opera House from Unilever Building [Sydney Opera House (N.S.W.); building construction] [GPO original locations or series - unnumbered] [4/03/1966]

Sydney Opera House construction

We hold records relating to the construction of Sydney Opera House including the stages of construction, who was who, correspondence, plans, contracts, accounting records and more