It isn't often that we hear of a government paying significant money to obtain genealogy records and pictures. Then again, Jan Goodacre's collection was not your ordinary collection.
The Western Australian Government has purchased what is being described as the most significant private collection of Aboriginal records and photographs in Australia. The 74,000 individual records and more than 7,000 photographs were gathered over 30 years by Northam genealogist Jan Goodacre. The State Government, with help from the Commonwealth, has paid $300,000 Australian (roughly $232,000 in U.S. funds) for the material.
Community Development Minister Sheila McHale says the collection includes invaluable information for Aboriginal people throughout the state. The Western Australian Government will make this material accessible through the family information bureau in the department for community development. It will be available to help Western Australian Aboriginal people research family trees.
