The Commonwealth of Australia Gazette has been published since 1901. It was published weekly until 1973, although issues containing material requiring urgent gazettal could be published at any time.

In 1974 the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette was divided into series. These series are bound separately. Up to this date the gazette was issued in one bound volume only.

The number and titles of the different series have varied since 1974. You can find out more about these titles and dates at GovPubs.

Until the end of 1999, the Commonwealth Gazette also included ACT Public Service Employment Information (vacancies, appointments, etc).

Current

Commonwealth Government Gazettes are available online, depending on the date you need. Gazettes include:

• The Government Notices Gazette, published each Wednesday (except during the Christmas/New Year period) and contains a large number of notices.
• A Special Gazette, normally containing a single notice, and may be published at any time.
• A Periodic Gazette, published irregularly, and may contain multiple notices relating to a specific subject area.

Historical

1901-2012: Trove's Government Gazette zone.

Search Trove's Government Gazette zone

1 January 1901 and 31 December 2012 are also available as PDF files at the Federal Register of Legislation.

Case Study: Military awards and honours

A person has found the following information at the Honours and Awards section of the Australian War Memorial's website:

• Name: Reginald Arthur Sellars
• Rank: Lieutenant
• Unit: 4th Pnr Bn
• Service: Army
• Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918
• Award: Mention in Despatches
• Date of London Gazette: 11 July 1919
• Location in London Gazette: Page 8833, position 45
• Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 30 October 1919
• Location in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Page 1653, position 88

They now want to find it in a Gazette entry.

• Find the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette in the National Library Catalogue.
• Check that we have the film for the required date: 30 October 1919. This information is shown in the 'Items/issues held' section at the bottom of the catalogue record.
• Request the reel we need by clicking select for call number mfm N82. Add the required date to the online request form.
• When the reel is delivered to the Reading Room, we can scroll through to find page 1653. 'Position 88' refers to the column entry in the gazette.

See also: Overseas: London Gazette (below)

Other places to look

• Commonwealth Gazettes fact sheet from the National Archives of Australia
• Commonwealth gazettes in Trove

Before self-government in 1989, notices requiring gazettal were published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.

Until the end of 1999, ACT Public Service Employment Information (vacancies, appointments, etc) continued to be published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.

Browse ACT Gazettes in Trove

Current and historical gazettes

You can access current and historical ACT gazettes from the ACT Legislation Register.

There are two series of the ACT Gazette: regular (weekly) and special (irregular). Regular Gazettes include:

• General Information
• Employment
• Government Notices
• Private Notices

Special Gazettes contain notices which require urgent publication, such as those relating to the making of subordinate legislation, proclamations bringing Acts into operation and any other notice which cannot meet normal gazette deadlines.

The ACT Government Gazette is published each Thursday, and is available online.

Archived

The Australian Capital Territory Gazette (Weekly and Special gazettes) was selected for preservation by the National Library of Australia. You can browse the archive on Trove.

Index

The Gazette Index is published annually and is found with the Gazette itself.

The Gazette Index from 1989 to 2001 is available online at Trove archived websites by selecting the required date.

Case study: Finding public service appointments

A person is organising a reunion of old work mates and wants to find a list of appointments of people in ACT Health in 2000-2001.

• Find appointment lists in the Australian Capital Territory Gazette
• The online version of the Gazette began in 2002, and are only archived from 2005, so we need to consult the print version of the Gazette.
• The Employment section of the Gazette shows job vacancies as well as appointments, transfers and retirements.
• As the Gazette was published weekly, we may need to search many copies to find all the appointments during the year. We can request copies by clicking select at the bottom of the Catalogue record and filling in the dates we need.
• Not all the Gazettes can be sent to the reading room at one time, so we may need to request two or three months each time. The Gazettes will be delivered on a trolley to the Main Reading Room.
• Earlier dates (up to December 1999) were published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette : Public Service.

Other places to look

• ACT Planning and Land Directorate

Current

The current New South Wales (NSW) Government Gazette is managed by the NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office.

Copies of the gazette from February 2001 onwards are available through the NSW Legislation website.

Historical

Digitised copies of the NSW Government Gazette from 1832 to 2001 are available online through Trove's Newspapers & Gazettes.

The historical gazette, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, can also be read online at Trove. It covers dates from 1803 to 1842.

Index

Save time, use an index to check your facts:

• 1832-1858 annual bound with the gazette
• 1859-1876 half-yearly; bound with the gazette
• 1877-1889 quarterly; bound with the gazette at the beginning of each quarter
• 1890-1903 two-monthly; bound with the gazette
• 1904 to the present, quarterly; bound with the gazette
• 2001 to the present, online

Also available in the National Library:

• Index to the New South Wales government gazette, 1839-1842 (in print)

Case study: Railway employment records

A person has discovered that their grandfather worked on the railways as a cook in about 1910, around Glenbrook NSW and is looking for more information.

• Details of New South Wales Railway Employees are found in the Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales in triennial lists, e.g. 1909, 1912, 1915, 1918. As the approximate date of employment on the railways is known, look up the employment lists in the gazette.
• Find the gazettes for 1901 to 1913 on microform in the National Library
• The index is on the same reel with the gazette; find the pages for Railways in the June 1909 lists
• Scan the lists to find his name, where he worked, type of job and wages.
• Gazette pages can be saved or printed out using the microform readers and computers in the Newspapers and Family History zone.

Case study: Miner's rights in NSW

A person is trying to confirm whether their grandfather held two miner's rights for Young in January 1881 and Peak Hill in December 1899.

• The NSW Government Gazette published mining notices; we can consult the microfilm copy of the gazette.
• Check the index to find the pages where the mining notices were printed.
• During 1877–1889 the index was published quarterly, so you will find the index at the beginning of the quarter.
• For January 1881, the index is printed before the January gazette, and for December 1899 the index is printed before the October gazette.
• The mining notices include mineral leases approved, abandoned, refused, cancelled etc. Each lease issued is listed, with the name of the person(s) involved and the locality, including the parish.
• To see these records, request the microfilm and view it in the Newspapers and Family History zone of the Library's Main Reading Room.

Other places to look

• Gazettes at the State Library of NSW
• NSW State Records Office

Current

The current series of the Northern Territory Gazette is online and includes:

• General (G), published weekly
• Registration (R), contains lengthy non-urgent notices, published irregularly
• Special (S), contains special urgent notices, published irregularly.

The General, Registration and Special gazettes are published online from January 2011.

• Mining Notices contain notices requiring gazettal under the Northern Territory Mining Act.
• Previously the gazette's 'M' series
• Published online for the previous two years

Historical

The following historical gazettes from the Northern Territory can be read online at Trove:

• Northern Territory Times and Gazette 1873-1927
• North Australian, (the gazette was briefly published here) 1883-1889
• Northern Standard, the gazette was published here from 1929 possibly up to 1942

The Northern Territory Government was selected for preservation by the Australian National Archive, Pandora. Some, but not all, Northern Territory gazettes can be accessed online. Choose the date you need, then 'A-Z Government' to find Gazettes.

Index

The Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory has produced some indexes for early dates of the Northern Territory Times and Gazette.

These are available on microfiche in the Newspapers and Family History zone.

Case study: Notice of appointment

A person is searching for a gazettal notice for the appointment of the Hon Thomas Pauling as Administrator of the Northern Territory.

• The Northern Territory Gazette is found online for the last two years only, so we will need to use the print resources.
• As Mr Pauling was sworn-in in November 2007, we should be able to find the notice at that time. This date has not been archived, so we cannot find it online.
• To find the notice we would request the November 2007 Government Gazette S (special notices). Mr Pauling mentioned on page 2778 of the 2007 Gazette.
• You can request a copy of the notice through our Copies Direct service.

Case study: Finding a specific gazette number

A person wants to get a copy of the government gazette CG S552 about Kakadu National Park Stage 2, published in 1985.

• The prefix letters CG S refer to the Commonwealth Government Special Gazette. The index for Special Gazettes does not give the exact date, only the gazette number, however numbering begins each year with 1, so we know that S552 should be in the later part of the year.
• In this case, a search of the Federal Register of Legislation shows a later proclamation which refers to S 552, so we do not have to search the full gazette to find the correct reference: Gazette No. S 552 of 20 December 1985.
• Most Special Gazette issues are bound with the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, in date order. The Library Catalogue record shows that dates between 1977 and 2010 are available.
• We can use Copies Direct to order a copy of the page. Special Gazette issues do not have page numbers, so we need to include the exact date as well as the number of the gazette on the order form.

Other places to look

• NT Government Gazettes in Trove

Current

Queensland Government Gazettes contain legal notices, such as legislative changes, and appointments to permanent government positions. The Queensland Government Publications website has gazette series for the current month posted online.

Historical

Text Queensland provides free online access to digitised historic gazettes from 1859 through to 1900.

Queensland Government Publications has online gazettes from 2003. Indexes are also available.

Some official notices from the Queensland Government Gazette were published in the Moreton Bay Courierin the mid 1800s. Other reports from historical gazettes may also be found in the digitised newspapers at Trove.

Queensland Government Gazette Consolidated Index 1859-1919 is available via Findmypast. To access Findmypast, visit the eResources portal, click the Browse eResources tab and search for 'Find my past'.(N.B. Findmypast is accessible within the National Library of Australia building, and may be accessible at your local public library).

Queensland, Australia, Government Gazettes, 1903-1910 are available via Ancestry.com. To access Ancestry, visit the eResources portal, click the Browse eResources tab and search for 'Ancestry'. (N.B. Ancestry.com Library edition is accessible within the National Library of Australia building, and may be accessible at your local public library).

Index

Two indexes are available:

• Consolidated index to the Queensland Government Gazettes - published by the Queensland Family History Society Queensland
• Government Gazette Index - Published from 1859 and found with the gazette itself

Case study: A town's early history

A person wants to get a copy of the 1910 Queensland Government Gazette entry showing that the town of Geraldton had its name changed to Innisfail.

• Using the searchable online newspaper database in Trove, we can find a date in August 1910 when the name change took place. On Friday 19 August 1910, the Cairns Post carried the following article:

BRISBANE, Thursday. - The Government has decided that the name of the town situated at the junction of the North and South Johnstone Rivers, and hitherto known as Geraldton, be altered to 'Innisfail'.

• We can search the Queensland Government Gazette for the proclamation in August 1910. The index for the gazette was published twice a year and is found at the beginning of 'Volume XCV - From 1st July to 31st December, 1910':
• Geraldton - Town of, Name altered to 'Innisfail' - page 470
• The entry is dated 18th August 1910, and gives the same information as that found in the newspaper article from the Cairns Post. Use the Library's Copies Direct service to request a copy, giving the volume and page details on the order form.

Other places to look

• Queensland State Archives: Brief Guides
• Using Electoral Rolls and Police Gazettes in your Family History Research
• State Library of Queensland Guide to Government Gazettes
• Queensland State Archives: Brief Guides
• Using Electoral Rolls and Police Gazettes in your Family History Research
• State Library of Queensland Guide to Government Gazettes

Current

Search South Australian Government Gazettes online from 1999 to the present.The Gazette is published in two series: General (weekly) and Extraordinary (irregular).

Historical

South Australian Gazettes online also include a Gazette Archive. Dates from 1839 to 1999 are hosted by AustLII.

The South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register is available online through Trove. Dates are irregular, and range between 1836 and 1839.

South Australian Industrial Gazette from 7 July 1977 to 20 June 1991 and South Australian Police Gazette from 1868 to 1985 are also available through Trove.

Index

The index to the South Australian Government Gazette was published annually up to 1876; since then it has been published half-yearly.

The index is normally found with the gazette itself.

Other places to look

• South Australian Government Gazette Index Archive
• State Records of South Australia

Current

The Tasmanian Government website has a searchable database of current Tasmanian Government Gazette notices. Search or browse the gazette from 2008 to the present.

Historical

Tasmanian papers included in Trove are:

• The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter (1816-1821)
• Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser (1821-1825)
• Hobart Town Gazette (1825-1827)

Index

The index to the Tasmanian Government Gazette has been published annually since 1833. It is found with the gazette itself.

Case study: Historic land ownership

A person has a letter dated 26 July 1858 from the Surveyor General's Office, relating to permission being granted to Pensioner O'Neil for him to select ten acres of Lot 135, 15 acres, 2 roods and 31 perches in the parish of Bagot, and the opportunity to bid for the remainder at auction in the Court House on 12 August. They want to find out the exact location of the land.

• Using the information that an auction was held on 12 August, 1858, we can search the Hobart Town Gazette. The Tuesday, August 10, 1858 gazette provides listings of lands for sale in the 'Sale of Crown Lands' section:

Agricultural Lands

County of Buckingham. Vicinity of Port Cygnet. Parish of Bagot. Near Gardner's Creek

Lot 635. 15A. 2R. 31P.

Fronting upon a roadway, and bounded by Pensioner O'Neil's Allotment, by Lot 636 and crown land. Upset price 11/.

• We can see approximately where this is, south of Hobart, using Google maps. Use the zoom out tool in Google maps to see the location in Tasmania.
• The National Library has historical maps which show this district, however they do not cover the time period. The earliest map is dated 1939, and does not show the name or lot number we are looking for.
• If a closer location is needed, Libraries Tasmania may be able to provide more information.

Other places to look

• Australian maps for family historians research guide
• Archives Office of Tasmania
• Heritage Tasmania

Current

The Victoria Government Gazette from 16 January 1998 can be accessed online. The gazette is published in three series:

• General (uses the prefix G, published weekly)
• Periodical (uses the prefix P, lengthy non-urgent notices, irregular)
• Special (uses the prefix S, irregular).

To view gazettes from 1998 onwards, select Gazette Archives, and use the drop-down list to find the date you need.

Historical

The online archive of the Victoria Government Gazettes cover 1836 to 1997 only. This database contains images of every relevant page in the Victoria Government Gazette produced since 1836, as well as searchable indexes for each publication.

Please note: No copies are known to exist for the period 19 July-December 1843. Gazette information for this period may be in The Port Phillip Herald newspaper under the 'Melbourne Government Gazette' column.

Before Victoria separated from New South Wales in 1851, government notices, regulations, forms and orders relating to the Port Phillip District were published initially in the New South Wales Government Gazette. The historical gazette, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (1803 to 1842), can be read online at Trove.

Index

The index is normally found with the gazette itself and is published:

• 1851–1853: half-yearly
• 1854–1864: annually
• 1865–1888: half-yearly
• 1889–1933: three a year
• 1934–1940: half-yearly
• 1941–1943: three a year
• 1944–1947: half-yearly
• 1948–1959: quarterly
• 1960+: three a year

For the years 1987 - 2006 the index is bound separately

Case study: A town's early history

A person is compiling a book on the early history of Haven and needs to find information about the very early years of Horsham Common (including how it was created) before 1910.

• We can find official references to the Horsham Common are in the online Victoria Government Gazette. For example, see the results of a search for Horsham Common.
• The Town Common's initial proclamation was dated 18 February 1861 according to Gazette 115, Tuesday, November 17th 1863

Case study: Mail contracts in 1902

A person is researching the mail Contractors of Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula and wants to access information about the contracts from the 1902 Commonwealth of Australia gazettes.

• We can find the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette for the year 1902 on microfilm; it is not available online.
• The microfilm has an index for the gazette at the end of the reel. Mail contracts are not listed as an index entry, but under 'Postmaster General's Department' there is the following note:
• Mail and other contracts - see under name of contractors.
• This means that we need to scan the index to find names of mail contractors. However, there is another index for mail contractors, published in 1994 by John F. Waghron: Alphabetical index of Victoria's mail contractors from 1901 to 1939, showing the locality of their mail run, and the period they held contracts. This is available in two libraries in Victoria.

Other places to look

• Victorian Government Gazette: a researcher’s treasure

Current and historical

The Western Australian Government Gazette from 1836 is found online at the Department of Justice Parliamentary Counsel's Office website. Browse and search facilities are available. Access to individual notices is from 1st January 2002.

Indexes are available online from 1836.

Police Gazettes of Western Australia 1876-1900 have been digitised and are available through the State Library of Western Australia website.

Index

The Consolidated Index to the Government Gazette, 1836 to 1900, is available at the State Library of Western Australia.

The index to the Government Gazette has been published annually since 1891; since then the Index has been published half-yearly.

It is found with the gazette itself.

The National Library of Australia mainly collects gazettes from the Asia Pacific region. Some of the gazettes held are:

• East Timor - Jornal da república
  • Find in the Library (2003 - 2008)
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
  • Find in the Library (1997 to 2014). Also search for special supplements
  • Find online (from May 2000)
• Indian Ocean Government Gazettes - Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands
  • Find in the Library: Christmas Island (1968 - 2000), Cocos (Keeling) Islands (1981 - 2000)
  • Find online (from 2006)
• New Zealand Gazette
  • Find in the Library (1862 to the present)
  • Find online (from 1993)
• Papua New Guinea National Gazette
  • 1975 - present
  • 1971 - 1975

The London Gazette is also available, but this can be easily accessed online.

Search the Catalogue for gazettes of other countries you are interested in.

Current gazettes of some countries may be found through an online search.

Government Gazettes Online, a project of the University of Michigan, attempts to list all online government gazettes.

Case study: Proclamations for New Zealand and South Africa

A person is studying the history of the monarchy in the Commonwealth nations and wants to find proclamations issued on and after May 29, 1953, concerning the change in Royal Styles for New Zealand and South Africa.

• We can start with the dates we already have for this search. Indexes, bound with the gazettes, can be used to check dates after May 29, 1953, for any other proclamations.
• The Royal Titles Proclamation can be found in the New Zealand Gazette No.30, 29 May 1953, page 851. There are no later entries in the 1953 Gazette.
• The Royal Style for New Zealand was "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith."
• The Government Gazette for South Africa only includes weekly indexes so checking all issues for 1953 will be very time-consuming. Proclamation of the Royal Style and Titles Act can be found on page 1 of Gazette no. 5073, 29 May 1953.
• From this date the Royal Style was "Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of South Africa and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth".

Other places to look

• WorldCat - Find libraries worldwide