Federation: Newspapers | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Federation: Newspapers

Newspapers provide an invaluable resource for researching Australian Federation, reflecting the opinions of the colonial societies. The National Library of Australia holds the largest collection of Australian and overseas newspapers in Australia in both print and digital formats.

A range of Australian newspapers published throughout the Federation period can also be accessed online via the Trove digital newspapers service.

Catalogue search tips

Newspapers, both online and print, may be found in the online catalogue. Use the Catalogue option, and search for a place name or region, e.g.:

  • Gippsland
  • Perth
  • Tenterfield

Then in the results list, under Limit your search, limit the Format to Newspapers to find all the newspaper titles in that area. A year range limit is also available, so you can limit your results to newspapers published during the Federation years.

You can also search by title for the name of the newspaper, e.g.:

In addition to browsing subject headings or using the titles of newspapers you can use different keywords alone or combined to identify a wide variety of newspapers related items, e.g.:

  • federation newspapers
  • colonial press

Results of such searches may reveal publications online, in microform or in print.

newspaper clipping titled 'The Great Work for Friday'

THE GREAT WORK FOR FRIDAY. (1898, June 1). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9836261

THE GREAT WORK FOR FRIDAY. (1898, June 1). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9836261

clipping from a newspaper showing a map of Australia with all states and territories shaded except for Western Australia

AUSTRALIA'S CAUSE. (1899, September 4). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9028909

Digital newspapers

A range of Australian and international newspapers from the Federation period may be accessed online via eResources.

These are available as free internet resources or online subscription databases. Use the Browse eResources tab to find relevant titles including the following:

  • British Library Newspapers
  • Chronicling America
  • Irish newspaper archive
  • Papers Past: New Zealand newspapers and periodicals
  • The Financial Times historical archive
  • Telegraph historical archive
  • Times digital archive

Also see our related guides:

Biographical cuttings

Our biographical cuttings files contain newspaper articles and references on specific people and even families. The articles and references in these files were collected by the Library between the late 1960s until 2000.

The content of these files is not available online, however they can be requested via our online catalogue. Files may be found by searching for the person's name and the keywords 'biographical cuttings', e.g.:

newspaper clipping titled 'Birth of a New Nation. Australian Unity Achieved.'

Australian Commonwealth (1901, January 2). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 5, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196062003

Page published: 16 Jan 2024

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