Family and personal history
Who's your mob?
If you want to find out about your personal and family history there are places that can help you trace where you came from.
Contact the Community and Personal Histories' team on 1800 650 230 to help you find out:
- where your family comes from
- who your family are
- how you are connected to a certain place.
Government records
Information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, up until the mid 1980s, is available to help you trace your family.
This information exists because of the control past Queensland governments had over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's lives. 'Protection Acts' such as the Aboriginals and Protection and the Restriction of Sale of Opium Act 1897 led to a high volume of records being created.
The Community and Personal Histories' team can help you use these records to research your family and personal history. They may be able to help you with other information, such as proving your birth date.
Protecting your privacy
Some records have very personal and sensitive information about people and families. To protect privacy, you may need to ask other family members if it's okay to look at the records.
If you don't need permission from any other people or families, you still need to fill in a form to let staff look up information about you.
Where can I trace my family history?
Link-up
Link-up provides a caring and private service to members of the Stolen Generation. If you are looking for your family of origin, Link-up can help you reunite with your family members if you have been:
- adopted
- fostered
- removed
- separated
- institutionalised.
The Queensland State Library
The Queensland State Library can help you:
- get started on your family history with their step-by-step guide books
- find records about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including birth, death, marriage and defence records
- use the Norman Tindale genealogical family history research to help trace your family
- use the Margaret Lawrie family history research to help trace your family
- use government and non-government web resources to trace your family history.
Some information accessed through the state library may be culturally sensitive.
Please read the Protocols for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections (PDF, 126KB).
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies have a family history kit to help you trace your heritage.
Right to Information (RTI)
You can apply to see records the government has under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the RTI Act).
To make an RTI application contact:
Information Access and Amendment Unit Phone: 1800 809 078 or (07) 3224 2242
Email: rti@communities.qld.gov.au
Fax: (07) 3224 7050
Get help with family history research
- Adoption Services Queensland
- Australian Society of Archivists
- Australian War Memorial
- Genealogical Society of Queensland
- James Cook University, Queensland heritage materials and archives
- Mitchell Library, State Library New South Wales
- National Archives of Australia
- National Library of Australia
- National Film and Sound Archive
- Queensland Family History Society
- Queensland Police Museum
- Queensland registry—births, death and marriages
- Queensland State Archives
- University of Queensland Anthropology Museum
