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With the lives of Indigenous West Australians having been controlled by State based policies and practices from the very early days of colonisation, government files and records are an important key source for finding out more about your Aborigional family members and descendents. The State Library of WA does not collect these Government records as that is the responsibility of the State Records Office and of State Government Departments with key responsibility for Aboriginal services.

• State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) - Aboriginal Records
  SRO has responsibility for managing, preserving and providing access to the State's records. This includes many records from the early establishment of the colony such as those recorded in the Colonial Secretaries Office starting in 1828 and records from successive Government departments administering policies that impacted on the lives of Aboriginal West Australians from 1891 through to the 1970's. SRO staff can support you in use of the records and in gaining access to records held by them and have developed a number of finding aides such as personal names and mission indexes to help you to identify files about your family members.
  
  
• The Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA) of Western Australia - Aboriginal History Research Unit, Family History Service
  The Aboriginal History Research Unit within DIA can provide you with research support in finding State Government records about your family members and support you in seeking permission to access files held at SRO and by them. DIA are the key agency for access to the significant Tindale archival collection, a ethnologist who's life's work was the recording of Aboriginal tribal boundaries, language groups and family names. They also have developed their own finding aides such as their Personal Names Index to assist you in finding relevant records (this can also be viewed at SRO).
  
  
• The Department for Child Protection - Family Information Records Bureau (FIRB)
  The Family Information Records Bureau has information on Western Australian Aboriginal families in the past, including personal files, records of marriage or defacto relationships, placement of children, employment, health and police records. Some records go back to the 1920’s. They can  assist in the search for records held by other departments and organisations for information about you or your family.