Australia's Founding Documents

Search by state/territory, theme, date or event to see images of original historic documents.

The documents date back to the early colonisation of Australia and include:

secret instructions to Captain Cook
the Australian Constitution
the Human Rights Act 2004.

The documents are contextualised through a timeline and album of historic images. Each document is also accompanied by information on its history and significance in Australia's democracy.

This website is a collaboration between the National Archives of Australia and MoAD.

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Explore 110 important original documents that shaped Australia and our democracy.