The history - including an award!

Picture Australia began in 1998 as a pilot project called ImageSearch, involving the Australian War Memorial, the National Library of Australia, and the State Libraries of New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria. Following the very strong support received in response to the prototype, it was decided to expand into a new service to include more libraries, galleries, museums, and archives.

The service was launched on 4 September 2000 by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Mr Bruce Scott, in a ceremony at the National Library of Australia and was immediately embraced by users in Australia and overseas. The National Archives of Australia and the University of Queensland Library also joined the service in time for the launch.

Picture Australia won an Australian Financial Review 2000 Australian Internet Award in the Arts category on 28 November 2000.

Winner, Australian Financial Review Australian Internet Awards

Since that time new agencies have continued to join the service expanding the number and range of images available to users.