The National Archives of Australia (NAA) holds the service records for every Australian who served in the armed forces. This guide walks you through how to find, view, and download those records using the NAA's RecordSearch database.

Before you start

You will need at least one of the following: the person's full name (as they enlisted - women may have used maiden names), their service number, or their unit. The more you know, the easier it is to narrow the results.

Step 1 - Go to RecordSearch

Open recordsearch.naa.gov.au in your browser. Click NameSearch in the top navigation to search by the person's name.

Step 2 - Enter the name

Type the surname first, then the given name. If you are unsure of the exact spelling, try variations - enlistment clerks sometimes recorded names phonetically. You can also leave the given name blank and browse all results for that surname.

Step 3 - Filter by series

The NAA organises records by series. The most common series for military service records are:

B2455 - First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920 (WWI Army)
A6770 - RANR and WRANS Service Records (WWI-WWII Navy)
A9300 - RAAF Personnel Files (WWII Air Force)
B883 - Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947 (WWII Army)

Step 4 - View the digital copy

If the record has been digitised, you will see a Digital copy link. Click it to view scanned images of the original documents. You can download individual pages or the complete file.

Step 5 - Request access (if not digitised)

If the record has not been digitised, you can request it through the NAA's online ordering system. There may be a fee, and turnaround times vary. Some records are also subject to access examination periods under the Archives Act 1983.

What to do with your records

Once you have the scanned images, you can upload them to Decode My Digger. The service will transcribe the handwritten entries, decode the military abbreviations, and produce a comprehensive report in both Word and Excel format - translating the archival shorthand into plain language your whole family can read.