Australian newspapers in print and on microfilm
What you can find in the Library
The latest edition of selected Australian print newspapers are made available in the Main Reading Room.
While the Library’s collection of print and microfilm Australian newspapers stretches broadly from 1800 to current day, in copyright newspapers published between 1955 and 1990 are often only available in print or microfilm formats.
There aren’t many indexes for this in copyright period so you will need a date and place in mind before you start your search.
Sets of most major Australian capital city newspapers dating from 1950 are shelved in cabinets in our Newspapers and Family History zone and can be accessed on a self-service basis.
Each cabinet and drawer is labelled for ease of identification and retrieval.
How to search, find and access items
Search the catalogue
If the newspapers or dates you are looking for are not held in the reading room, you will need to search the catalogue.
Readers with a Library login can request items from the closed newspaper stacks or offsite storage and access these in the Newspapers and Family History zone.
Check the format, as many newspapers are on microfilm as well as in print.
You can also identify if the newspaper you have located in our catalogue is the print or microfilm version by the following Call Number prefixes:
- NX = Print Australian newspaper title
- mfm NX = Microfilmed Australian newspaper title
- mc NX = Australian newspaper title on microfiche
Some examples are:
- NX 252 = the print issue of The Bulletin with Newsweek
- mfm NX 141 = the microfilmed version of The Bulletin with Newsweek
When available in both print and microfilm, please request microfilm.
For preservation reasons, access to microform copies is preferred to print unless absolutely necessary.
Closed stacks
Both print and microfilm newspapers from the closed stacks will normally be delivered to the Newspapers and Family History zone within 45 minutes unless they are stored offsite.
Loui Seselja, [Interior view of the stack at Hume Warehouse, Annex of the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2005], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-131043749
Offsite storage
All issues of Australian print newspapers published prior to 2011 are stored offsite and are not available for immediate delivery.
See Collection delivery service for timeframes and instructions on how to request these.
Viewing microfilm at the Library
We currently have 10 microfilm readers for use in viewing microfilms (16mm and 35mm formats), microfiche and microprints in our Newspapers and Family History zone.
These can be viewed using software on the adjacent computers which allow for printing and scanning of selected content.
If you can't visit the Library
Although our Australian print and microfilmed newspapers can only be used onsite, Library members can access many Australian newspapers in digital format through our eResources portal.
Trove also provides freely available access to our digitised historic Australian newspapers.
Copies Direct is an easy and inexpensive way to get high-resolution scans of items from the collection.
Get help with your research
Our specialist staff can help you with your research, to locate resources and use our microform and scanning equipment but they cannot undertake extensive or ongoing genealogical, historical or other research on your behalf.
Find out more in our Information and research services policy.
Continue your journey
More to explore
Arrival of the first newspapers to go by air to Normanton, aircraft was a Perseus, a DH 50 built by Qantas at Longreach, 1 July 1927, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144684965
Newspaper stand in a railway station headlining attempt to kill King, Victoria, 1936, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152826154
