I quite agree, I was simply pointing out that the records are freely available, unlike those of our own service personnel.
Sorry, but .... the vast majority of Australian service personnel records are NOT freely available.
Some of the Royal Australian Navy ones were part of a digital funding program because they were initially on CARD which had been archived properly, so easy to process. Some RAAF forms were processed as part of that too.
Far more Australians served in the Army, and for those who served in WWII or more recently, there are fees charged and permissions required or confirmation the person of interest is deceased before the digitisation even commences.
Back in the early 2000s the bulk of one main series of the Australian Imperial Force papers for WWI were digitised, and federal funding of the files that had not already been funded by individual members of the general public, was found.
Current fees for digitisation are about $75 Au, but the Australian Defence Force can withhold approval.
The NAA Record Collection of Defence files is extensive, and not all personnel files are indexed, nor are all indexes available on line.
JM.
