The following list of resources is intended to illustrate the scope of Australian maritime history, as an engaging starting point for researchers, maritime history enthusiasts, students and teachers, and is not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive.
Section: Image collections
- State Library of South Australia shipping image collection guide
- Sydney Heritage Fleet image collections
- Fremantle Ports heritage images: Shipping History and Wartime
- State Library of Victoria
- State Library of New South Wales
- Oswald Brierly drawings of sailing ships
Section: Historic vessels and watercraft collections in Australia
- Australian Register of Historic Vessels
- WA Museum historic vessels
- Sydney Heritage Fleet
- Jervis Bay Museum Historic Vessels
- Colin Jack-Hinton Maritime Gallery
Section: Maritime Museums in Australia
- Australian Maritime Museums Council list of maritime museums in Australia
- Maritime Museums of Victoria
Section: Navy and Defence
- The Royal Australian Navy’s Seapower Centre has a great deal of information on-line relating to ship and base histories, wars, videos, people and reference materials: Click here
- Naval Historical Society of Australia
Section: Indigenous Maritime Culture and History
- Sea Country: an Indigenous Perspective
- Indigenous History of Port Adelaide
- Ancient Aboriginal stories preserve history of a rise in sea-level: Click here
- Lustre – pearling in the Kimberley exhibition
- Torres Strait/ Mabuiag – Cultural Identity and the Sea
- Making the Nawi (canoe): Watch video
- Aboriginal colonial seafaring
- Western Australian Marine Science Institute – Kimberley Indigenous Saltwater Science
- Macassan contact and Arnhem land rock art dating: Click here
- Rock art evidence for Macassan-Aboriginal contact in northwest Arnhem Land: Click here
- Tyerelore culture (Tas)
- Tribal Warrior Aboriginal Culture maritime training organisation
Section: Organisations
- International Maritime History Association (IMHA): imha.info
- Australian Maritime Museums Council: maritimemuseumsaustralia.com
- Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network: mmhn.org.au
- Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology: aima-underwater.org.au
- Maritime Heritage Association: maritimeheritage.org.au
Section: Maritime History Educational Resources for Teachers and Students
- Australian National Maritime Museum learning resources
- WA Museum Learning Resources
- Teaching STEM lessons using maritime history
- Sea History for Kids
- Indian Ocean in World History educational resource site, tools, lesson plans, maps: Click here
- Time-machine.Earth – Multimedia visualization of Australian history, including ‘deep history’ and sea-level rise
Section: On-line exhibitions and Virtual Tours
- Lustre – pearling in the Kimberley exhibition
- Tall ship Polly Woodside virtual tour
- SS Great Britain virtual tour
- Maritime Museums Online
Section: Maritime Heritage Trails
- Port of Melbourne Heritage Trail
- Coogee Maritime Trail (WA)
- Shipwreck Trails and Ships' graveyards of South Australia
- Sydney South Head Heritage Trail
- Murray River Heritage Trail (SA, NSW, Vic)
Section: Researching maritime heritage
Commonwealth and State Records archives hold a treasure trove of information on maritime history, not all of which is yet digitized, including ship registers, historic charts, Government Gazettes and Notices to Mariners, Harbours Masters’ and Harbour and Light Departments’ records, Colonial Secretaries’ correspondence, crew lists and reports of wrecks. Below are listed some on-line resources relevant to Australian researchers:
- TROVE – digitized Australian newspapers and gazettes
- Lloyd's Register of Shipping on-line
- US Ships and Ships’ Registers
- British crew lists and agreements and log books of ships after 1861: Click here
- British crew list index for 19th and 20th century British merchant shipping: Click here
- Ships registered in Western Australia 1856-1969