The Australian Information Service (AIS) was one of a series of
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
organisations created to promote the image of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, in existence between 1940 and 1996.
First created in 1940, the Australian News and Information Bureau (ANIB) kept its name but expanded its functions when it was moved into the Department of the Interior in 1950. It was renamed in February 1973 to the Australian Information Service, under which name it created a vast collection of photographs now held in the
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...
.
It was again renamed in 1986, to Promotion Australia, a year later becoming the Australian Overseas Information Service (AOIS). In 1994 the agency became a branch of the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...
(DFAT), renamed the International Public Affairs Branch, before being disbanded in 1996.
History and functions
The
Department of Information (DOI) was created in September 1939 under the leadership of
John Treloar, responsible for both
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and disseminating government
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was broken up in 1950. The Australian News and Information Bureau (ANIB) was created in 1940 within the DOI on the suggestion of
Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation.
Early life
Murdoc ...
, then Director-General of Information, but by the time it was implemented, he had resigned and the Minister for Information,
Harry Foll, took charge. ANIB was based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, as its main goal was to inform the United States of Australia's war effort, thereby nurturing and building the relationship between the two countries. A
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
office was opened in 1944 and one in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
in 1945, as ANIB developed an "overseas publicity" role.
With the breaking up of the DOI in 1950, ANIB was transferred to the Department of the Interior, and expanded its functions to take on much of DOI's work, also taking on many of its staff members. At this time it split into separate Home and Overseas Organisations. The ANIB took on the role of attracting
migrants to Australia after the war, painting an attractive image of a country scarcely touched by war and with plenty of space and opportunity. During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, the bureau's overseas arm became more political hue, pushing the notion that the "Australian way of life" was much better than
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
[
The ]Australian National Film Board
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diff ...
, based in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
(also referred to as the Film Division), created in order oversee coordination of government and commercial filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
, and to engage film production in the war effort, came under ANIB from 1950 until 1955. (After several further changes over the years, the organisation morphed into Film Australia and then merged into Screen Australia
Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
).
From 1950 until at least 1961 it also established and managed "The Colombo Plan" in 1950, an aid scheme for developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
, which was criticised for being wasteful and poorly managed.[
Under the Whitlam Labor government December 1972, ANIB became part of the new Department of the Media, changing its name in February 1973 to the Australian Information Service (AIS), and started focusing on disseminating government information within Australia. ANIB state offices were created in ]Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
and Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, and an extensive overseas network was established, including not only offices in North America and Europe, but also Asian cities such as Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
, Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
.[
The AIS was renamed Promotion Australia in 1986, the following year again renamed to the Australian Overseas Information Service (AOIS).][
In ]1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
the agency became a branch in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and inv ...
(DFAT) known as the International Public Affairs Branch. In 1996 the branch was dissolved.
Photographs
Numerous photographs were created by the department, now held by the National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...
.[
In 1981, two packets of "historical" photographs of a rural Victorian town were returned to Australia by the New York office of the Australian Information Service, showing a small example of the activities of the agency.
The photographs were taken by Jim Fitzpatrick, an official war photographer with the AIS,] who was sent in 1944 to document the impact of the war on the population of the dairying town of Drouin Drouin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* André Drouin (c. 1947 – 2017), Canadian politician
* Claude Drouin (born 1956), Canadian politician
* Derek Drouin (born 1990), Canadian high jumper
* Francis Drouin (born 1983), Ca ...
. His 88 photographs now make up the Drouin Collection and focus on the town's people as a community and also on a more personal level, somewhat idealised and showing their sacrifices and contributions to the war effort. Fitzpatrick’s assignment was part of an extensive publicity campaign to convince our allies, particularly the Americans, that we were "shouldering our full share of the burdens of war".
An article titled "Small town at war", written by David Stevens, was published in the ''South West Pacific Annual'' in December 1944, including 27 of Fitzpatrick's photographs. The publication was produced by the Department of Information and distributed to overseas media editors for free.[
Fitzpatrick was also responsible for a series of photographs he took on Biak Island, off ]Dutch New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...
, of Japanese warplane
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:
* Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...
s going down in flames in June 1944.[
]
References
{{Authority control
Defunct government entities of Australia
Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia
1973 establishments in Australia
1986 disestablishments in Australia