Brisbane City Archives

Brisbane City Archives is located off Ipswich Road in the Skyline Business Centre, 15/107-123 Muriel Avenue, Moorooka.

Car parking is available onsite. Visit Translink for public transport options.

Opening hours

Brisbane City Archives is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 2pm. Other times are available by appointment.

To contact Brisbane City Archives to make an appointment and/or discuss your research, email Brisbane City Archives or phone 07 3403 1711.

Records

You can search for archive holdings using eLibCat (Council's library catalogue).

Records held by the Brisbane City Archives include:

  • Council and local studies publications
  • Council minutes: from 1859 to 1925 for the original Brisbane City Council area, from 1925 onwards for the greater Brisbane area. Minutes are printed and indexed from 1908
  • Council annual reports from 1940
  • street naming records
  • photographs taken by Council photographers from 1940 through 2000
  • Brisbane statistics from 1925 to 1989
  • Council staff leave cards since the 1930s
  • Councillor information – details of service for elected Aldermen and Councillors
  • park history files.

Planning and building records held by Brisbane City Archives include: 

  • an extensive collection of early plans dating from the 1860s
  • detailed plans from 1913, including an outline of existing houses and buildings and their continuing value. These can be searched online through the Detail Plans room on Brisbane Images 
  • land use survey maps compiled around 1950-51 to determine zonings for industry and business. Also available online through the Map room
  • building registers – Council approvals of building plans for commercial, domestic and additional building work from 1904 to 1945 (except 1935 and 1939). Plans from 1904 to 1925 are for the original Brisbane City Council area; other dates are for the greater Brisbane area. These can be searched online through the Building Application Records room on Brisbane Images
  • building approval cards 1945-1982.

Images

Brisbane Images is a database with over 25,000 images of Brisbane. The images have been selected from our photographic archives and date from the 1850s. 

The images can also be accessed through the National Library’s TROVE website.

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Brisbane City Council acknowledges this Country and its Traditional Custodians. We pay our respects to the Elders, those who have passed into the Dreaming; those here today; those of tomorrow.