News archive 2005

Picture Australia’s new picture trail, timed to coincide with the 30th Anniversary of the Whitlam dismissal, follows the highs and lows of Gough Whitlam’s political career.

Through this trail you can see the Politicians involved in the dismissal and relive the controversial moment on that Spring day, when Parliament was dissolved, and Gough Whitlam delivered his famous speech on the steps of Old Parliament House.   

Picture Australia would like to welcome our forty second participating agency, Camden Council Library Service.

Camden Library’s online pictorial database, HistoryPix, is a collaborative catalogue of images from the collections of Camden Library and the Camden Historical Society. Over 1,400 of these images are now available through Picture Australia, with more expected to be loaded soon.

HistoryPix contains images that show the development of the Camden district, documenting public buildings, private homes and the people of the community. It is a wonderful resource for those researching their family history, as the photos range from family snapshots, professional studio portraits, sporting groups, charity organisations, school children, labourers, and farmers.

Western Australia Trail - This Picture Australia trail depicts some of the defining themes of Western Australia, including Indigenous history and cultures, the mining and pearling industries, unique flora and spectacular landscapes from the desert to the sea.

Rock'n'Roll Trail - The second of our two new trails coincides with Canberra’s famous spring floral celebration, Floriade, this year themed Rock’n’Roll.

Follow the trail to see images of the great artists, bands and music events which have shaped Australia’s extraordinary rock culture.

It’s a short way to Music Australia if you want more Rock ‘n’ Roll!

Picture Australia celebrates its 5th birthday on 4 September and see how it has grown!

The service was launched in 2000, with seven participants and 470,000 images. We now include images from forty one participating agencies including all the State Libraries, several public libraries, museums, galleries, and university libraries, and also two overseas contributors.

There are now over 1 million images available through Picture Australia. We expect this number to continue growing, with many agencies, both Australian and international, expressing an interest to join and share their images in this collaborative environment. This milestone could not have been achieved without the support and good humour of our participants and customers. We thank you for your ongoing support of Picture Australia, and look forward to many more achievements to come!

Music Trail - Picture Australia's Music Trail is a fascinating visual record of Australia's musical heritage. Discover music and musicians ranging from traditional indigenous forms through to folk and western art music, and the latest popular artists.

Click here to follow the trail.

Find out more on Australian music and musicians at the Music Australia website.

Outback House Trail - Timed to coincide with ABC TV's Outback House series, Picture Australia's Outback House Picture Trail reveals the landscape, industry, personalities, conditions and lifestyles of Australians who pioneered in our rural landscape 150 years ago...

Click here to follow the trail.

Two new image collections come on board this month, the first being Monash University Archives.

Monash University Archives is the 40th participant to join Picture Australia.

Monash University Archives currently hold approximately 15,000 images that document the history, buildings, students and staff of the university and its predecessor institutions. These include black and white prints, colour prints, negatives, slides and digital images. Over 6,000 of these images are available on-line for research and study purposes.

Monash University Archives images are also available in MONPIX, which is an ongoing project, with new images being continually added to the database.

The second participant joining this month is the State Library of Western Australia.

The State Library of Western Australia's pictorial collection is held in the J S Battye Library of West Australian History. This is the most comprehensive collection of Western Australian photographic images, prints, drawings, and postcards depicting life and scenes in Western Australia from the earliest days of colonisation to the present.

The Pictorial Catalogue contains records for most of the items in the collection.

Social Dance Trail - Follow our Social Dance trail and discover the styles and fashion of social dance in Australia from the 1880s to the present day.

From the ballroom to the nightclub, these fifty images capture our exuberance in both formal and spontaneous expressions of dance.

For further information on social dance visit the AUSTRALIA dancing website.

Top End Trail - In the first of a series of spotlights on each of Australia's state and territories, our Top End trail explores the northern part of the Northern Territory.

From the World War II bombings of Darwin in 1942, to the devastation of Cyclone Tracy; from the heritage listed Kakadu National Park to images of the outback town of Katherine, our Top End trail captures fifty images relating to the people, places and history of this part of the Territory.