In 1945 the Australian Army, with the approval of General Blamey, established the Land Headquarters, School of Civil Affairs, in the grounds of the Military College, Duntroon, to train officers for the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit. In March 1946, the School became a civil institution, named The Australian School of Pacific Administration, and was transferred to Georges Heights, Mosman, NSW, and later to Middle Head. ASOPA was given statuatory recognition under the Papua New Guinea Act in 1949 and continued to function as a responsibility of the Minister for External Territories till 1 December 1973 when the International Training Institute came into existence as a result of the Australian Government’s decision to integrate ASOPA into the structure of the Australian Development Assistance Agency (later AIDAB), under the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

This collection of documents was compiled in the ASOPA Library and, on closure of that Library, the documents were transferred to the AusAid Library which made them available to the Bureau. The collection consists of reports, minutes of some ASOPA Council meetings, correspondence and other internal documents relating to the School’s administration, courses, staff, reviews and restructures. There are also some documents relating to aspects of Australian administration in PNG and the Northern Territory.<B><P>See reel list for further details</B>