Function and content

This series consists of weekly reports compiled by the offices of the Commonwealth Security Service – NSW (Sydney); Newcastle; Canberra (one week only); Victoria; Queensland; Tasmania; South Australia and Western Australia. Most of the reports for offices other than NSW are incomplete.

The NSW reports cover the weeks ending 16 October 1941 to 12 March 1942; and 20 June 1942 to 19 December 1942; 2 January 1943 to 13 February 1943; 27 February 1942 to 10 April 1942; and 1 May 1943 to 26 August 1943. The latter range may include gaps.

The NSW reports deal with such matters as:

• subversive activities (individuals, organisations – Communism, organisations - Nazism, organisations - pacifism; organisations – religion)
• (lists of) prosecutions;
• (lists of) internments;
• restriction orders;
• sabotage;
• industrial unrest;
• leakage of information;
• rumours; passports - arrivals (numbers and nationalities of alien passengers and crew at Sydney and Newcastle), departures (numbers and nationalities of alien passengers and crew from Sydney and Newcastle) and outwards passport control (numbers of applications and destinations proposed);
• consular activities;
• waterfront – seamen;
• alien control (including escapees);
• censorship;
• counter propaganda;
• vital industries;
• vulnerable points;
• public opinion and morale;
• personnel;
• Japanese activities; and
• overseas information.

Some reports’ categories have nil information.

The originals of these copies of the NSW reports, in items 1 to 10, had been signed by the Deputy Director of Security for NSW, Stanley Cassin Taylor.

Relationships with other records

The reports by the NSW Security Service are the only ones known to be still extant in NSW. However, a very few weekly reports furnished to the Deputy-Director, Security Service NSW by other NSW organisations (Military Police Intelligence, Sydney, and the Directorate of Military Intelligence, NSW Lines of Communication) are included in series C417, ‘General correspondence files, annual single number series with 'G' prefix; and in control symbol S1 of record series C320, 'Investigation files (Persons and Organisations), single number with alphabetical prefix'.

These reports by other organisations include the period between the weeks ending 12 March 1942 and 20 June 1942, during which there are no extant reports by the NSW Security Service.

Additional information

This note previously read:

This series consists of weekly reports compiled by the state offices of the Commonwealth Security Service. The reports deal with such matters as subversive activities, prosecutions, internment, sabotage, and consular activities. National Archives have placed the reports in manila folders, each folder containing a group of reports.

These reports are the only ones known to be still extant in NSW.