Archives



Magistracy Departments, State of Tasmania

The Magistracy Departments were individual Departments which managed the lower courts in various localities. They had their origins in the appointment of a Magistrate at Hobart and Port Dalrymple in 1804. The first system of Police Magistrates was established by Governor George Arthur in the late 1820s and early 1930s. Between then and 1901, the…

Department of Justice, State of Tasmania

The Department of Justice replaced the Department of Justice and Industrial Relations in 2004. In 2014, its many sections include the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Corrective Services, the Prison Service, the Guardianship and Administration Board, Crown Law, and the Ombudsman.

Department of Justice and Industrial Relations, State of Tasmania

The Department of Justice and Industrial Relations, replaced the Department of Justice in 1998. It included the Supreme Court, Magistrates Courts, Prison Service, Guardianship and Administration Board, Industrial Relations, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Anti-Discrimination Commission, and Elections and Referendums. In 2003, it became the Department of Justice again.

Law Department, State of Tasmania

The Law Department replaced the Attorney-General’s Department in 1983. It was an amalgamation of the Attorney-General’s Department, the Solicitor-General, Corporate Affairs, and the Prisons Department, known as the Corrective Services Division. In 1989, the new Labor government transferred the Division to the Department for Community Services. The Law Department became the Department of Justice in…

Attorney-General’s Department, State of Tasmania

The Attorney General’s Department, which served the state government from 1901, was mostly concerned with the administration of justice in the Supreme Court of Tasmania. It had other, subsidiary functions that varied over the years. One of them was, from 1946, the administration of the Probation and Paroles Service for adults and children, formerly run…

Sherriff and Gaols Department, State of Tasmania

The Sheriff and Gaols Department, originally established in 1824 and managed by the colonial government, enforced Supreme Court judgements and administered the jury system. In this role, it oversaw local gaols, many of which housed children. In 1924, it became the Supreme Court and Sheriff’s Office.

Attorney General’s Department, Colony of Tasmania

The Attorney-General’s Department was one of the first three ministerial portfolios in Tasmania. It contained the Sheriff and Gaols Department and the Supreme Court which, among its other functions, included the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. A Statistical and Registry Department took over this function in 1882. In 1901, following Australian federation, Tasmania became…

Law Officers’ Establishment, Colony of Tasmania

The Law Officers’ Establishment, set up in 1823, was a loose term to describe the organisation that contained the Supreme Court and the Sheriff’s Department, which after the early 1830s, included gaols, which housed children. In 1856, following self-government, the Law Officer’s Establishment became the Office of the Attorney-General, one of the first three ministerial…

Tasmanian State Archives

The Tasmanian State Archives opened in 1949. This was the first attempt in Tasmania to manage, rather than just hold, state records. In 1962, it became the Archives Office of Tasmania. Before 1949, the Chief Secretary’s Department held state records. They kept them in the basement of the government buildings in Franklin Square, Hobart. In…

Southern Parenting Centre

The Southern Parenting Centre, run by the government, was established in the late 1980s or early 1990s with funds from the sale of the Mothercraft Home. It provided support and advice to parents with children up to the age of five. During the 1990s, more Parenting Centres opened throughout the state.