Bob Hawke Collection

History of the Bob Hawke Collection

The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library (BHPML) was established through a memorandum of understanding between the University of South Australia and Bob Hawke in December 1997. In 1999, the BHPML accepted its first consignment of archives into the Bob Hawke Collection: seventeen archival series that the National Archives of Australia (NAA) had held since the early 1990s. Hawke's office sent other major donations to the Bob Hawke Collection in December 2018 and July 2019. Other smaller donations have been accepted during the history of the BHPML. 

While Hawke is the major contributor to his own collection, the Bob Hawke Collection also contains items from his former political staffers, state branches of the ALP, and supporters of Hawke whom he had met.  

Collection scope and structure

The Bob Hawke Collection comprises of the papers and records produced to support the work of the Honourable Robert (Bob) James Lee Hawke during his life and career working with Australian unions, the Australian Labor Party, in government and during his post-Parliamentary career. 

While the Collection does include some materials that date from Hawke’s terms as Prime Minister of Australia, most records relating to that period of his career can be found at the NAA. 

The Collection includes correspondence, papers, speeches, photographs, campaign material, books, audio-visual materials, gifts and memorabilia. These items have been structured into 311 archival series numbered from RH1 to RH312. 

Searching and accessing the Collection

You can browse the Bob Hawke Collection or search the Adelaide University Library catalogue for further information about collection holdings. Each series contains at minimum a box list with a small number of series also containing items individually catalogued. For further information, including enquiries on accessing the collection, contact Ask Library.