.
Australian telephone history websites
These are not listed in any order. Simply as they were found and entered. Other interesting links here. Some of the links below are repeated on that page.
ATCS/Bobs old phones
The Australasian Telephone Collectors Society (ATCS) now hosts the late Bob Estreich's site, "Bobs old phones". This is a valuable resource for novice and experienced collectors alike. It describes, in detail, the progression of Australian telephones from colonial to modern times and includes a number of essays on foreign and Australian telephone companies.
http://www.telephonecollecting.org/Bobs%20phones/
British telephones
Bob Freshwater's THE TELEPHONE FILE is a historical web site about UK customer telephone apparatus & systems but it also has a detailed Australian section. Australia followed UK telecommunications from colonial times until the early 1960s so much of this site is very useful to Australian collectors.
http://www.britishtelephones.com/
Telstra: Telecommunications Timeline
The Telstra site once listed major events in Australia’s telecommunications history but it appears to have disappeared. The information was a bit sparse and with some inaccuracies/omissions so, hopefully, they will reintroduce an improved version. Wikipedia has a summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstra#
Telephone switching history
Paul Matthews has done a good job of capturing early documentation on Australian telephone switching.
http://www.schoolpa.com.au/sxs/
Australian Telecommunications museums
The museums are managed by a Telstra subsidiary company, Heritage Telecommunications Ltd. There are/were three major telecommunications museums in Australia in 2023, all located on the eastern seaboard. Some info at: www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/266e92b3-3aaf-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/profile
Telecom Australia (now Telstra) shut down its WA’s museum in about 1988 and dispersed the collection. Similarly in South Australia a little later.
Victoria
The National Communications Museum, Hawthorn (Melbourne) Vic. has been "temporarily closed for refurbishment" since 2019. It currently (2023) has no website, email or other public contact info.
NSW
There is social media chatter (Dec. 2023) that this museum is at risk but no further information known.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Telstra-Museum/424657874251089
Queensland
http://www.telemuseum.org/aboutus.html
Dave Dockray (Qld)
Dave is an avid collector and restorer located in southern Qld.
http://www.telephonetalk.com.au/index.htm
Australian Public Telephones by Henry Titchen
An old site that hasn't been updated for a very long time but still a good starting point. There is very little information on-line about this genre.
http://publicphone.tripod.com/phone.html
Australian Telephones and Exchange Library
This appears to be an American company (NYC) and I don't know their interest in Australian telephony but they have put together a, reasonably accurate, summary of typical Australian phone equipment over the 20th C..
https://www.prosoundeffects.com/pdf/telephony-equipment-list.pdf
Red telephone boxes
A repair and retail site but this is a good source of background, images etc for Australian telephone boxes.
http://www.redtelephonebox.net
When and how did telephones come to Victoria?
Museums Victoria Article.
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/16334
Mrs O’Donahue at Hamelin Pool saves the day
In April 1964 the USA’s first unmanned Gemini space mission was about to be launched. Western Australia’s Carnarvon Tracking Station was gearing up to provide important support when disaster struck. Read how a Post-mistress at a remote outpost using a magneto telephone connection over a derelict 19th century line relayed vital information that enabled the station tracking systems to acquire and maintain signals from the spacecraft. Click on the link below.
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/carnarvon/Hamelin_Pool_GT1.html
History of the PMG/ Telecom/Telstra Research Laboratories.
With thanks to Mr Rick Coxhill, a former staff member. A detailed history of the Research Labs from inception. Also contains copies of over 50 years of Telecom Journals of Australia and numerous other technical publications.
http://www.coxhill.com/trlhistory/history/history.htm
Australian telephone history websites
These are not listed in any order. Simply as they were found and entered. Other interesting links here. Some of the links below are repeated on that page.
ATCS/Bobs old phones
The Australasian Telephone Collectors Society (ATCS) now hosts the late Bob Estreich's site, "Bobs old phones". This is a valuable resource for novice and experienced collectors alike. It describes, in detail, the progression of Australian telephones from colonial to modern times and includes a number of essays on foreign and Australian telephone companies.
http://www.telephonecollecting.org/Bobs%20phones/
British telephones
Bob Freshwater's THE TELEPHONE FILE is a historical web site about UK customer telephone apparatus & systems but it also has a detailed Australian section. Australia followed UK telecommunications from colonial times until the early 1960s so much of this site is very useful to Australian collectors.
http://www.britishtelephones.com/
Telstra: Telecommunications Timeline
The Telstra site once listed major events in Australia’s telecommunications history but it appears to have disappeared. The information was a bit sparse and with some inaccuracies/omissions so, hopefully, they will reintroduce an improved version. Wikipedia has a summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstra#
Telephone switching history
Paul Matthews has done a good job of capturing early documentation on Australian telephone switching.
http://www.schoolpa.com.au/sxs/
Australian Telecommunications museums
The museums are managed by a Telstra subsidiary company, Heritage Telecommunications Ltd. There are/were three major telecommunications museums in Australia in 2023, all located on the eastern seaboard. Some info at: www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/266e92b3-3aaf-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/profile
Telecom Australia (now Telstra) shut down its WA’s museum in about 1988 and dispersed the collection. Similarly in South Australia a little later.
Victoria
The National Communications Museum, Hawthorn (Melbourne) Vic. has been "temporarily closed for refurbishment" since 2019. It currently (2023) has no website, email or other public contact info.
NSW
There is social media chatter (Dec. 2023) that this museum is at risk but no further information known.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Telstra-Museum/424657874251089
Queensland
http://www.telemuseum.org/aboutus.html
Dave Dockray (Qld)
Dave is an avid collector and restorer located in southern Qld.
http://www.telephonetalk.com.au/index.htm
Australian Public Telephones by Henry Titchen
An old site that hasn't been updated for a very long time but still a good starting point. There is very little information on-line about this genre.
http://publicphone.tripod.com/phone.html
Australian Telephones and Exchange Library
This appears to be an American company (NYC) and I don't know their interest in Australian telephony but they have put together a, reasonably accurate, summary of typical Australian phone equipment over the 20th C..
https://www.prosoundeffects.com/pdf/telephony-equipment-list.pdf
Red telephone boxes
A repair and retail site but this is a good source of background, images etc for Australian telephone boxes.
http://www.redtelephonebox.net
When and how did telephones come to Victoria?
Museums Victoria Article.
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/16334
Mrs O’Donahue at Hamelin Pool saves the day
In April 1964 the USA’s first unmanned Gemini space mission was about to be launched. Western Australia’s Carnarvon Tracking Station was gearing up to provide important support when disaster struck. Read how a Post-mistress at a remote outpost using a magneto telephone connection over a derelict 19th century line relayed vital information that enabled the station tracking systems to acquire and maintain signals from the spacecraft. Click on the link below.
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/carnarvon/Hamelin_Pool_GT1.html
History of the PMG/ Telecom/Telstra Research Laboratories.
With thanks to Mr Rick Coxhill, a former staff member. A detailed history of the Research Labs from inception. Also contains copies of over 50 years of Telecom Journals of Australia and numerous other technical publications.
http://www.coxhill.com/trlhistory/history/history.htm