Newspapers

The Library's Newspaper Collection is one of the largest in Australia. It has an extensive range of Victorian metropolitan, suburban and regional newspapers, as well as selected interstate and international papers.

What's in the Newspapers Collection?

Thanks to legal deposit legislation passed in 1882, the Library has copies of almost every newspaper published in the state since that time. A selection of Victorian papers printed between 1838 and 1880 is also available.

Interstate newspapers include some of the first editions produced in New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland as well as microfilm versions of interstate dailies. The oldest interstate paper held by the Library is an 1803 copy of the Sydney Gazette. International papers include significant runs of the New York Times and the London Times.

A significant proportion of the Library's collection of newspapers has been copied onto microfilm as part of the Library’s ongoing preservation program. A complete list of these newspapers is available in the Guide to Newspapers on Microfilm.

Newspapers are also available on microfiche and CD-ROM as well as in hard copy.

How can I view material in this collection?

Recent issues of Victorian, interstate and overseas newspapers - up to three months old - as well as electronic and microfilmed newspapers are available for browsing, reading and research in the Newspaper Reading Room.

Issues of newspapers more than three months old are stored offsite and are available to view under the conditions outlined in the Newspaper Access Policy.