In June 1983, the Victorian cabinet appointed a working party to investigate how brothels could be better regulated. As a result, in 1984 preparation began on a Bill to decriminalise prostitution in brothels with planning permits. Learn about 1980s sex work decriminalisation: go.vic.gov.au/4sT7Qx9

This small recipe book was compiled by Dr Snowball in 1883. His recipe for cheese biscuits states: Roll pastry and cut into rounds. Bake. Whip cream, add cheese, diced celery, salt and cayenne. Heap on biscuits. Serve on lettuce. 📖 VPRS 16797 P1. Find more of the Dr's records: go.vic.gov.au/3YOO6wQ

Wikipedia turns 25 today! 🎂📚 To celebrate, we’re looking back at its baby pictures—some of the earliest captures of the site, preserved in the #WaybackMachine. Take a nostalgic peek at early Wikipedia ⤵️ web.archive.org/web/20030301... #WikipediaDay #Wikipedia25 @wikipedia.org

OTB is excited to be joining the magnificent line up of events in this years PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival Independent Programme! Discover our events below:

"The reform record of Cain’s eight-year premiership was remarkable..."⁠ To mark the Cabinet records release of 1982-92, Paul Strangio reflects on the leadership, legacy and transformative impact of the Cain-Kirner era: go.vic.gov.au/49Hy1OA 📸 John Cain Jr's children James and Joanne with Paul. ⁠

Did you know? The Old Treasury Building is the third building to hold that title. The first Treasury was in William Street followed by 300 Queen Street. While the William Street building has been demolished, the Queen Street building is still there!

Last year we shared photos of the Victorian Railways toy mascot Tom Train. In 2026 we give you... the Tramways Board's Transporting George! Research other transport records in our collection: go.vic.gov.au/4jEWtER 📸 VPRS 12907/P1, Box 17.

The State Library and Archives of Tasmania is pleased to offer a 12-month fellowship program. In 2026, four Fellowships are available. Applications close: Friday 6 February 2026 libraries.tas.gov.au/slat/fellows... #phavictas

Did you know it took around 60 workmen to build the Old Treasury Building? Their equipment seems basic now, but this was the first documented use of a travelling crane in Melbourne!

Submissions are now open for the Griffith Review, issue 93. They are looking for submissions no more than 4,000 words on the theme: Into the Archive. www.griffithreview.com/for-writers/ #phavictas #griffithreview

There's no better place to be on a hot day than our temperature-controlled archive. Get a virtual sense of "cool" with a behind the scenes of ABC filming our recently opened Cabinet records. Learn more about the Cabinet records: url-shortener.me/3Y2F #Archives #History #Victoria #CabinetRecords

Did you catch 9 News last week? We showed Heidi newly opened Cabinet records including submissions and meeting papers on the Tennis Centre, State Bank and Docklands. Learn more about the records: url-shortener.me/3Y2F #Archives #History #Victoria #CabinetRecords #JohnCain #JoanKirner #1980s #1990s

Are you an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander researcher? There’s still a little time to apply to the Loris Williams Memorial Fund for financial assistance with study, research, or professional development in the archives and records sector. www.archivists.org.au/Web/Web/Care...

What can a Cabinet of “competent, committed people of good will” achieve in ten years? Cabinet records, opened last week, hold the answers! ⁠Learn more about the Cabinet records on our website. url-shortener.me/3Y2F #Archives #History #Victoria #CabinetRecords #JohnCain #JoanKirner #1980s #1990s⁠

Thank you 10 News for joining us for yesterday’s Cabinet record openings. PROV’s Jack and Lexi were pleased to showcase some of the 332 boxes opened - behind the scenes below. Learn more about the records: url-shortener.me/3Y2F #Archives #History #Victoria #CabinetRecords #JohnCain #JoanKirner

In addition to our first ever opening of Cabinet records, we also have our annual Section 9 files for you to explore, including the cabinet case of Jean Lee, the last woman hanged in Australia: bit.ly/49iXlKq #Archives #History #Melbourne #Victoria #CapitalCase #JeanLee #TrueCrime #1940s #1950s

Happy new year and records to explore! This year, for the first time, Victorian Cabinet records closed under Section 10(1) of the Public Records Act have been opened. Delve into 1980s-90s history! url-shortener.me/3Y2F #Archives #History #Victoria #CabinetRecords #JohnCain #JoanKirner #1980s #1990s

What an unexpected find in the archives this Christmas! In a series of funding applications to the old Arts Victoria is this program for the National Boys Choir Silver Anniversary Christmas Concert in 1989. prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our...

🎄Thank you for visiting and engaging with us in 2025. When planning your summer research, please check the reading room closures on our website. The Victorian Archives Centre closes tomorrow at 2pm and reopens 2 Jan 2026. 📸 Big M at the Myer Christmas Parade 1991-92. www.flickr.com/photos/publi...

"No more pencils. No more books. No more teacher's dirty looks." Ringwood North State School sits quiet this #SuburbsofMelbourne Monday: prov.vic.gov.au/archive/8AD0...

From our photographic collection: Australian professional golfer Eric Cremin demonstrates an Australian golf club at the 5th International Trade Fair in Osaka, #Japan, 1962. 📸 prov.vic.gov.au/archive/4D4E...

Applications are now open for #hcnswmember Australian Society of Archivists Loris Williams Memorial Fund! The Fund supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals at all stages of their archival careers Applications close Tuesday 6 January 2025 Learn more via the link below!

Welcome aboard Melbourne's 'new' development train this #TrainsPlanesAutomobiles Tuesday. The 4D, or double deck development and demonstration train, ran throughout the 1990s in Melbourne. Who remembers it? 📸 prov.vic.gov.au/archive/187A...

On #InternationalVolunteerDay we celebrate our volunteers. One project completed is the digitisation of Chief Secretary Dept’s Register of Inward Correspondence 1851-1864, which took roughly 95 hours to photograph, unlocking Victoria’s 19th century stories for all. prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our...

Textile Temporalities is a Manningham exhibition and workshop series showcasing recent works by artist Shannon Slee alongside a piece made with locals. Learn more and get involved: www.manningham.vic.gov.au/events/texti... See more of Shannon's art at VAC: prov.vic.gov.au/whats/public...

Boom gates at Alphington 1965. Happy #SuburbsofMelbourne Monday! 📸 prov.vic.gov.au/search_journ...

Have you visited our North Melbourne or Ballarat Reading Rooms recently? We’d love to hear about your experience so we can continue to improve our service. Fill in this short survey to share your thoughts: www.surveymonkey.com/r/N9S7BR5

Hey Melbourne photographers! Submissions close 9am Tuesday 27 January 2026.

A great photos! We asked around and we've had classes in Japanese, Indonesian, French, Chinese, Latin and English!

Photos of University High School show Spanish language classes, Chinese history classes and Japanese language classes in progress. What foreign language and history classes do you remember from school? Find more University High School photos here: prov.vic.gov.au/search_journ...

Lunch is served this #TrainsPlanesAutomobiles Tuesday. Here are meals being prepared for flight, and served during air hostess training. 📸 VPRS 14517/P1/52, B642 & 54, B917. 📬️ Sign up to our Despatch enews for more photos, events and stories from the archives: prov.vic.gov.au/despatch-sub...

Learn how to #research land and property records in our collection: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuLx...

A crowded view of Footscray Wharf 1944: prov.vic.gov.au/archive/E5C0... Happy #SuburbsofMelbourne Monday

A group of stylish women dangle an array of fashionable handbags in this Melbourne Harbor Trust photo for #FashionFriday: prov.vic.gov.au/archive/A317...

Unimelb's School of Government, Archives and Special Collections, and Trinity College are delighted to invite you to a Symposium being held to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Fraser Government. 12-13 December 2025 www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/whats-happen... #vichistoryevents #phavictas #UNIMELB

Beautiful Lake Wendouree in Ballarat is popular for its scenery, wildlife and its wide, accessible paths. It’s one of 60 trails that have been audited by ‘Victoria Walks’ and can be enjoyed by everyone, on foot, in a wheelchair or with any other mobility aid: walkingmaps.com.au/accessible-w...

It started with a question from Gideon Haigh's daughter: who's the world's oldest prisoner? The Guinness Book of Records had the answer, and it surprised them both. The oldest prisoner on record is Bill Wallace, a Victorian! See what else Gideon found out: prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our...

🎉Happy World Digital Preservation Day! Our digital record transfer program ensures permanent-value digital records from across govt are preserved as state archives. Recent success stories include Deadly and Proud: prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our... and Metro Tunnel: prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our...

☀️Join us on November 27 for a topical panel discussion in our last Making Public Histories webinar of 2025! Our three expert environmental historians will present 'Thinking about the weather: Heatwaves and history in twentieth century Australia'. ➡️ Register: tinyurl.com/43t43hbb

#Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions. Here, an American Indian man paints a clay pot, with more drying behind him. Search 'pottery' on our photowall to find photos of pottery classes across Victoria and international markets and practice: prov.vic.gov.au/photowall 📸 VPRS 14517/P1/15, G413

See more of Sam Wallman's work at our Rewind Forward exhibition: prov.vic.gov.au/whats/creati...

❓️ Recognise this shopping strip? Click the link for the answer: prov.vic.gov.au/archive/69CD...

"Reaching hundreds of thousands of feminine buyers every day: suburban electric trains transport feminine buyers from 211 suburban stations...carriage posters will influence sales over 138 miles of suburban territory." Advantages of marketing to women on transport c1920-30s VPRS 12800/P3 ADV 1018A&B

Have you visited our North Melbourne or Ballarat Reading Rooms recently? We’d love to hear about your experience so we can continue to improve our service. Fill in this short survey to share your thoughts: www.surveymonkey.com/r/N9S7BR5

Surveyed, engraved and published under the direction of Alfred R. C. Selwyn, Government Geologist at the Geological Survey Office Melbourne. 1862. 🗺️ View this map on MapWarper to see how it corresponds with present day: mapwarper.prov.vic.gov.au/maps/7402#Pr...

Happy Diwali/Deepavali! The Festival of Lights is celebrated by over a billion people globally, including more than a million Australians. This undated photograph from PROV’s Education Department collection, shows the historic Madurai city in South India. prov.vic.gov.au/archive/B180...

It's a quiet afternoon on Alexandra Parade in Collingwood. These photos are undated in our catalogue, but can you place them? 📸 prov.vic.gov.au/search_journ... Happy #SuburbsofMelbourne Monday!

Are you a First Nations individual studying, researching or working in a history-related field? Our First Nations Officer Jadzia Stronell is inviting First Nations history students to be spotlighted across our social media platforms! Check out more information via buff.ly/gijIF3J

📚Our last Book+Author event for the year is coming up on October 30! Liam Byrne will be in conversation with Professor Sean Scalmer about his book 'No Power Greater: A history of union action in Australia' at the intimate Bard's Apothecary in the Melbourne CBD. ➡️ Book now: tinyurl.com/4zas4ws4