A bank, to be called the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, was established with the passing of the Commonwealth Bank Act 1911. The Act was introduced to Parliament by the Labor Prime Minister and Treasurer, Andrew Fisher, and was passed on 22 December 1911, with the role of Treasurer having direct oversight of the Bank. It allowed for the new bank to conduct both savings bank business (through a Savings Bank Department) and general banking business, backed by a government guarantee.

The Bank opened for business in Melbourne, at the time the temporary seat of power of the Federal Government, on 15 July 1912 under its first Governor, Denison Samuel King Miller. Under the Act, management of the Bank was vested solely in the Governor. Section 21 of the Act allowed for the Governor of the Bank to establish the Head Office of the Bank in a location within the Commonwealth of his choosing. Miller, who was from New South Wales, chose Sydney, and the Bank would eventually open its new Head Office building on the corner of Pitt and Moore Streets in 1916.

In order to quickly establish a footing throughout Australia, under an agreement with the Postmaster-General’s Department, the Bank traded through existing post office agencies. By 1913, branches in all six states of Australia and London were in operation.

In 1920, the note issue function of Treasury was transferred to a Notes Board, with the Governor of the Bank an ex officio member. The Commonwealth Bank Act 1924 transferred control of the note issue to the Bank through a board of eight directors, including ex officio the Governor of the Bank and the Secretary to the Treasury. 

As early as 1914, the Bank had supported the Federal Government through the raising of loans to fund Australia’s involvement in the First World War. From the 1920s through to 1945, the Bank increasingly took on more central banking responsibilities, in reaction to major events such as the Depression and the Second World War. These included determining advance policy, setting interest rates, and requiring private banks to lodge funds with the Bank. It also expanded its commercial banking business, with a separate savings bank created in 1927 from the Savings Bank Department. 

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1945 and the Banking Act 1945 together formalised the central banking powers of the Bank, allowing for administration of monetary and banking policy, and exchange control. The Bank’s Board was replaced with an Advisory Council comprised of Bank and Treasury officials, with the Governor responsible for managing the Bank. Legislation in 1951 established a new Board, which including the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Secretary to the Treasury, with the Governor retaining responsibility for the management of the Bank. 

Legislation in 1953 and 1957 began the separation of the central banking operations of the Bank from its commercial ones, which had placed it in direct competition with other private banks, who felt this gave the Bank an unfair advantage, being both the regulator of banks and recipient of its own policies. Legislation in 1959 formally separated the Bank’s savings and trading bank activities from the Bank and created the Commonwealth Banking Corporation. The Commonwealth Banking Corporation comprised three statutory bodies – the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia; the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia; and the Commonwealth Development Bank of Australia.

The Reserve Bank Act 1959 preserved the original corporate body, under the new name of the Reserve Bank of Australia, to continue the central banking functions of the Commonwealth Bank, while the Commonwealth Banks Act 1959 transferred the commercial banking activities into a newly created Commonwealth Banking Corporation, later renamed the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Origins of government banking in Australia

The creation of a government bank in Australia has its origins in colonial Australia,¹ where as early as 1819 a government regulation (‘Regulations of the New South Wales Saving Bank: a depositary for the savings of the poor 1819’) established the New South Wales Savings Bank, also referred to as Campbell’s Bank after one of its founders, Robert Campbell. With oversight by the Colonial Governor, the bank encouraged the poor and convicts, who often brought money with them to the Colony of New South Wales, to place their money in the bank for safe keeping. Later, convicts were compelled to deposit any money brought with them, with withdrawals only allowed for good behaviour. These compulsory deposits saw the bank grow rapidly, with the authority to manage these assets and extend the services offered going beyond its original remit.

In response to this, a savings bank, the Savings Bank of New South Wales, was established in 1832 by Bill, 2 William IV, No. 13, and by 1833 all the assets of Campbell’s Bank were subsumed by the new bank. The Colonial Governor was appointed the president of the bank, supported by a board of nine trustees; later increased to 18. A loan of £100 was made by the colonial government to enable the trustees to commence business. As well as encouraging good financial habits amongst its depositors, the bank paid interest on balances and offered loans to eligible customers.

As the Savings Bank of NSW was restricted by the legislation under which it was created, in 1870, another government bank, the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales was established by the Government Savings Bank Bill 1870 to offer additional savings and banking business facilities. The government bank, which was based on the post office savings banks in England, opened for business in 1871. Control of the bank was initially vested in a Treasury official, but this was later amended to a Board of Commissioners. In 1914, in part due to direct competition from the Savings Bank of NSW regarding savings bank business, the Savings Bank Amalgamation Act 1914 was passed, which transferred all the assets of the Savings Bank of NSW to the Government Savings Bank. Other colonial banks, including in Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia, were also established during these years, with the backing of their administrators, and with representation in regional areas.

The Government Savings Bank would itself be forced to compete with the Savings Bank Department of the Commonwealth Bank, which opened for business in 1912, and offered a broader range of services and a large branch network. The Government Savings Bank was eventually absorbed by the Commonwealth Bank, through the passing of the Government Savings Bank Bill 1931. The State Savings Bank of Tasmania, the Queensland Government Savings Bank and the State Savings Bank of Western Australia were also subsumed by the Commonwealth Bank in 1913, 1920 and 1931 respectively.

Towards a national bank

The depression of the 1890s saw many private banks collapse and people lose life savings. With confidence in the banking system severely affected by these events, and as the Australian colonies moved towards federation, many prominent citizens advocated for a national bank for the benefit of all Australians; a bank that would bring stability to the banking system and offer an alternative to the high fees charged by the private banks. A government bank that would allow the Federal Government to undertake business on the world stage, backed by a national banking system and on equal footing with overseas counterparts. While the form this national bank would take was not fully understood, many advocated for a bank along the lines of the Bank of England. In 1901, with the federation of the Australian states, the Australian Parliament could now make laws with respect to banking and currency on a nation level, and so the opportunity to establish a bank to undertake these, on behalf of the Government, was now possible.

One of the earliest and most vocal supporters of a national bank was parliamentarian King O'Malley. Elected to the Federal Parliament in 1901, first as an Independent and then as a member of the Labor Party, O’Malley advocated for a bank with reserve functions. In 1905, O’Malley unsuccessfully proposed a state-owned bank of deposit and issue to become part of the Labor Party’s campaign platform. In 1908, he presented a detailed plan to parliament for the creation of a government owned bank of deposit, issue, exchange, and reserve. In pursing these policies, he met with resistance from some of his Labor Party colleagues, who preferred a less ambitious approach, with Labor colleagues Billy Hughes and Andrew Fisher favouring a largely commercial bank, in direct competition with the existing private banks, rather than O’Malley’s more encompassing model.

When Andrew Fisher became Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1910, he legislated to establish a national bank along the lines he had originally envisaged. The new bank would have no direct central banking responsibilities, be unable to issue money, or to finance government debt. It would also be prevented from providing subsidised credit for farmers and small businesses, as O’Malley had wanted. Instead, the new bank was to be operated on a predominantly commercial basis, and in competition with the privately owned banks already operating in Australia.

When war broke out in 1914, two years after the Commonwealth Bank opened for business, the Bank was called upon to support and fund the Government's war efforts. Over time more central banking functions, along the lines first espoused by King O'Malley, would be legislated for through various amendments to the Act, with O'Malley later laying claim to being the 'father' of central banking in Australia.

The Commonwealth Bank is established

When the six Australian colonies were united in a federation in 1901, the Constitution of the new Commonwealth of Australia empowered the Australian Parliament to make laws about currency, coinage and legal tender, banking, and the issue of paper money.

The Australian Notes Act 1910 passed control of banknotes to the Australian Treasury. A year later, in December 1911, the Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 came into effect. Passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives, and enacted by King George V, it created a Commonwealth Bank, with a Savings Bank Department for public deposits.

The Act of 1911 established the Commonwealth Bank as banker to the Commonwealth Government and its agencies, a function traditionally undertaken by the central bank of a country. Over time, additional central banking responsibilities were conferred on the Bank by the Government in response to economic events, with the first major challenge being the outbreak of the First World War. This forced the Bank to take quick action to fund the war effort and later the peacetime recovery.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1924 created a Board (previously the Governor of the Bank had sole management) and allowed members of the Board to appoint a chairman annually. While eligible for appointment, the Bank’s Governor was never elected Chairman of the Board during the years 1924 through to 1945. The Commonwealth Bank Act 1945 abolished the Board, replacing it with an advisory council of Treasury and Bank personnel. The 1951 Act re-established the Board, with the Bank’s Governor now made ex officio Chairman.

The Commonwealth Bank (Savings Bank) Act 1927 established a commonwealth savings bank with its own legal status but administered by the Bank. This separation foreshadowed the eventual separation of the commercial and central banking functions in 1959.

Changes in society and the economy were reflected in amendments to the original Act. This included sole control of the note issue in 1924, and loan raising to finance the Second World War. From 1939, the Bank’s powers expanded under wartime regulations, including under the National Security (War-time Banking Control) Act 1939-1945. Under this legislation, the Bank was given the authority to regulate trading banks' lending and purchases of government securities. It also required the private banks to lodge surplus funds in a special account held by the Bank. Furthermore, the Bank exercised powers over foreign exchange transactions and bank interest rates. The aim of these regulations was to minimise the inflationary impact of war expenditure, to divert financial resources to war purposes, and to control the private banks' profits.

Other legislation passed under the Prime Ministership of Ben Chifley, including the Banking Act 1945, regulated banking and made provisions for the protection of the currency and of the public credit of the Commonwealth and gave the Bank further powers regarding government banking policy and commercial banking responsibilities. Previous attempts to pass a Banking Act, very soon after Federation and again in the late 1920s, had been unsuccessful.

The passing of the Commonwealth Banks Act 1959 and Reserve Bank Act 1959 separated the commercial and central banking functions of the Bank. A new bank, the Commonwealth Banking Corporation (today’s Commonwealth Bank), was created for the commercial banking operations of the original Commonwealth Bank, with the Reserve Bank as Australia’s central bank, and successor in law to the Commonwealth Bank established in 1911.

Banking Legislation

Between 1911 and 1959, amendments to the original Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 saw the Bank develop more central banking roles and define and expand on its commercial banking functions. While there were many minor amendments made throughout these years, only the legislation containing the major changes, including the disbanding and later re-establishment of the Bank’s Board, interest rates, exchange control and control of the currency, are listed below. For all amendments to the Commonwealth Bank Act, refer to the Federal Register of Legislation.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1911

The original Act of 1911 established the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Denison Miller was appointed the Bank’s first Governor and commenced duties on 1 June 1912, with the Bank opening for business on 15 July 1912. James Kell was the Bank’s first Deputy-Governor and was appointed to the role on 2 December 1912.

The Act of 1911 established a commonwealth bank, to be called the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as a body corporate with a common seal, and with the powers to carry on savings bank and general banking business, acquire and hold land, receive deposits of money, make advances by way of loans, issue bills and drafts, deal in exchanges including assayed gold, and borrow money. The savings bank business was managed by a Savings Bank Department within the Bank.

The Bank was to be given capital of £1,000,000 to establish it on a secure footing, but in the end the authorised capital was not required, with a short-term loan of £10,000 from the Commonwealth Treasury used to cover costs.

At the time the Bank was established, the Commonwealth Government was situated in Melbourne until a new federal capital could be established. The Bank opened temporary offices of the Bank and Savings Bank Department in Melbourne, with the Governor Denison Miller authorised to establish a Head Office of the Bank in a place within the Commonwealth of his choosing. To establish the Bank without interference, the Governor was given sole management of the Bank. His powers included being able to open branches and appoint agencies of the Bank in any part of the Commonwealth or Territory under the Commonwealth. He could also establish branches in London, and in any other places beyond the Commonwealth, with approval from the Treasurer.

The appointment of the Governor was for an initial seven-year term, with eligibility for re-appointment at the end of this period. The Governor was responsible for appointing officers to the Bank, as he saw fit. While a Deputy Governor was not immediately appointed, the Act allowed for this role, and under similar employment conditions, with a term of seven years and the eligibility for this to be extended.

Under the Act, the Governor was required to furnish statements regarding the assets and liabilities of the Bank and the affairs of the Bank to the federal government, with all to be subject to audit by the Auditor-General of the Commonwealth.

The Act stated that the Bank could not issue bank notes. The passing of the Australian Notes Act 1910 had transferred this function from the private banks and Queensland Government to Treasury. In 1920 this was transferred to a Notes Board with the Governor as an ex officio member. It was not until 1924 that this function would pass solely to the Note Issue Department of the Bank.

The Government guarantee on the principal and interest due on accounts held at the Bank, with funds to come from internal revenue, was also legislated for, to deter any future runs on money, due to an economic downturn such as a depression. This would give depositors confidence in the Bank and in their deposits.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1914

With approval from the Treasurer, this amendment to the Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 allowed the Bank to enter an arrangement with any other corporation carrying on the business of banking and for the Bank to purchase all or any of the assets of that corporation or part of the corporation.

The Bank could also, with the approval of the Treasurer, enter an arrangement with the proper authority controlling any Savings Bank constituted under the laws of a State to transfer any or part of the assets, liabilities, and business of that Savings Bank to the Savings Bank Department of the Commonwealth Bank.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1920

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1920 established a Note Issue Department of the Bank, to be kept distinct from all other departments of the Bank, with the Department managed by a Board of Directors composed of the Governor of the Bank as ex officio Chairman, and an officer of the Commonwealth Treasury and two other directors appointed by the Governor-General.

The Act transferred all assets and liabilities as recorded by Treasury to the Note Issue Department. It also required that the Board hold in gold coin and bullion one-fourth the amount of Australian notes issued. The Department was also required to record the number of banknotes in circulation and returned, including those held by other banks. It also made it an offence for anyone to produce or be in possession of a forged note.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1924 

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1924 amended the original Act to give the Bank sole control over the note issue, including the administration, printing, and issuing of Australia’s banknotes. The note issue had previously been managed by Treasury from 1910, and then a Notes Board from 1920.

The death of Denison Miller in 1923, who under the Act of 1911 had been granted sole management of the Bank, allowed the Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce to make changes to the management of the Bank. Given the stature and admiration in which Miller was held, these changes would have been difficult to implement were Miller still in charge. With the support of the new Governor James Kell, who had been Miller’s deputy, Bruce placed checks and limits on the powers of the Governor.

A Board of Directors comprising the Governor, Secretary to the Treasury, and six directors who had been or were actively engaged in agriculture, commerce, finance, or industry, was established, with directors initially appointed for varying terms, and then for seven years, with the option for re-appointment. Before appointment, each director was required to declare fidelity and secrecy. The Act declared a Chairman of the Board would be elected annually by the members of the Board, and the Board would meet at least once a month, and at any other times as required by the Chairman.

The Commonwealth Bank (Savings Bank) Act 1927

The Commonwealth Bank (Savings Bank) Act 1927 established a commonwealth savings bank, to be called the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and gave it separate legal status from the Commonwealth Bank, although it remained under the Bank’s administrative controls. A Chief Commissioner and two other Commissioners were appointed to manage the Savings Bank business.

The Savings Bank Department of the Commonwealth Bank was established by the Commonwealth Bank Act 1911, and the bank opened for business on 15 July 1912 in Melbourne. Under the Act of 1927, all the assets of this Department were transferred to the new Commonwealth Savings Bank. The Act gave the new bank the authority to take over the business of other savings banks by arrangement, in whole or part, with the approval of the Treasurer. In 1931/1932, this section of the Act allowed the Bank to absorb the Government Savings Bank of NSW.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1929

In response to economic instability and if in the interests of the Australian currency or Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Bank Act 1929, gave the Bank the authority, to requisition gold supplies from private banks. Through the operations of the Bank, the Treasurer could ask for particulars of gold coin and bullion held in public hands and to require the Bank to exchange any gold for Australian notes.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1945

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1945 rewrote the original legislation, incorporating a Bank charter for the first time. It was also the first legislation to declare that the Commonwealth Bank was Australia’s central bank. It also formalised the Bank's powers in relation to the administration of monetary and banking policy, and exchange control, and disbanded the Board, which was replaced by an Advisory Council of six, comprised entirely of officials from the Bank and the Treasury.

The legislation specified that the Governor was responsible for managing the Bank. When these amendments to the 1945 Bill were debated in Federal Parliament in 1945, Opposition Leader Robert Menzies opposed them and vowed that when in office, he would immediately reintroduce a Board of Directors to the Bank.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1951

Under the Menzies Liberal Government, the Commonwealth Bank Act 1951, established a new 10-member Board, including the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the Secretary to the Treasury, with the Governor responsible for managing the Bank. Robert Menzies was elected Prime Minister in 1949 and reinstated the Board in his first term of government, as promised.

Unlike in 1924, the 1951 Act appointed the Bank’s Governor, Dr HC Coombs, Chairman of the Board ex officio. In the Act of 1924, the Chairman had been elected annually by the Board members. From 1924 to 1945, the Governor of the Bank had never been elected Chairman of the Board.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1953

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1953 established the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia and gave it the powers necessary to carry on general banking business. It was given a reserve fund to conduct business. With the approval of the Treasurer, the Trading Bank could take over the business of another trading bank, by arrangement.  The remaining entity, the Commonwealth Bank effectively became the nation’s central bank.

The Commonwealth Banks Acts 1957 and 1959 and the Banking Act 1959

The Commonwealth Banks Acts of 1957 and 1959 related to the future constitution and operations of the Commonwealth Bank.

The Banking Act 1959 allowed the government to repeal previous Acts and Bills relating to the Commonwealth Bank, allowing for these changes to legally take effect.

The Acts established the Commonwealth Banking Corporation as a public company, divided the assets of the banks and legislated for them to be registered as a company under the Companies Act. They also separated the commercial banking activities of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia into a newly created Commonwealth Banking Corporation. The Commonwealth Banking Corporation comprised three statutory bodies – the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia; the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia; and the Commonwealth Development Bank of Australia.

The Commonwealth Bank Act 1959 established the Commonwealth Development Bank, which took over the assets and liabilities of the Mortgage Bank and Industrial Finance departments of the former Commonwealth Bank of Australia. 

The new commercial banking entity, the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, wholly owned by the federal government, came into effect on 14 January 1960.

The Reserve Bank Act 1959

The Reserve Bank Act 1959 preserved the original Commonwealth Bank of Australia, under the new name of the Reserve Bank of Australia, to continue the central banking functions of the Commonwealth Bank and to be the banker for the Commonwealth. Under section 7 (1) (a) of the Reserve Bank Act 1959, the Reserve Bank inherited the body corporate established under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1911-1943, and that was continued under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.

The Act created the Reserve Bank Board and Payments System Board, and the membership and appointment of members to both; also, the role of the Governor and Deputy-Governor. The Reserve Bank Act 1959 took effect from 14 January 1960.

Footnotes

¹ The theory that the beginnings of a national bank could be traced to the colonial banking system in Australia was examined in Dr HC Coombs’ thesis, The Development of the Commonwealth Bank as a Central Bank, Master of Arts degree, University of Western Australia, 1931. Dr Coombs was the Governor of the Commonwealth Bank from 1949, overseeing the separation of the Bank’s commercial and central banking functions. He would become the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia in January 1960.

Useful resources relating to Commonwealth Bank legislation

The Reserve Bank has online resources that may assist in providing context for the Acts that established and developed the Commonwealth Bank, including the colonial banks that influenced its creation. These include the following:

• ‘Hidden History of Banking’
• ‘Before Sunset: The Bank and World War I’
• 'From Bank to Battlefield’
• ‘A Brief History | RBA’
• ‘Origins of the Reserve Bank of Australia | Explainer | Education | RBA’
• 'Collection Spotlight: King O’Malley'
• The Commonwealth Bank Act/s 1911, 1920, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1945, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1959, and the Reserve Bank Act 1959, along with associated legislation including the Australian Notes Act 1910, the National Security (War-time Banking Control) Act 1939-1945 and the Banking Act 1945 – all found on the following site: Federal Register of Legislation.

This information is drawn from records held by the Reserve Bank of Australia archives and the following sources:

Australian Government, Federal Register of Australia, 2024 in Federal Register of Legislation, viewed March 2024.

Butlin NG (1970), ‘Some Perspectives of Australian Economic Development, 1890-1965,’ in C Forster (ed), Australian Economic Development in the Twentieth Century, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney.

Butlin SJ (1986), The Australian Monetary System 1851 to 1914, Ambassador Press, Sydney.

Coombs HC (1931), The Development of the Commonwealth Bank as a Central Bank, thesis submitted for Master of Arts degree (awarded), University of Western Australia.

Cornish S (2010), The Evolution of Central Banking in Australia, Reserve Bank of Australia, Sydney.

Gollan R (1968), The Commonwealth Bank of Australia; origins and early history. Australian National University Press, Canberra.

O’Malley K (1908), The Commonwealth Bank - The Facts of its Creation, JJ Miller, Melbourne.

Schedvin B (1992), In Reserve, Central Banking in Australia, 1945-75, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards.

On separation of the commercial and central banking functions of the Commonwealth Bank in 1959, the newly created Reserve Bank, as the successor in law to the original Bank, became the custodian of the archives and central banking records of the original institution, created in 1911. 

The items listed below may be useful for those researching the establishment and development of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. They include key legislative records held by the Bank, a coin and a horseshoe charm, both gifted to Denison Miller for the good luck and prosperity of the new Bank, photographs and other items that represent the establishment of the Bank in 1911.

Of interest, and perhaps surprisingly, the Bank holds personal items relating to the federal parliamentarian, King O’Malley, for whom some credit towards the creation of a national bank may be given. Some of these items are listed below, and include a pocket watch and an epergne, both owned by O’Malley, which were given to the Bank in 1964 by the Office of the Public Trustee (the administrator of O'Malley's estate) in recognition of his role in supporting and promoting the need for an Australian central bank.

A full listing of all records and collection items relating to banking legislation, Miller and O’Malley can be provided on request.

Not all records and collection items held in the Bank’s archives have been digitised or photographed and uploaded on Unreserved. Access to these records can be provided, on receipt of a formal request, and at the discretion of the Bank’s archivists. 

• MU-000163 Lucky Coin - 1907 Halfpenny coin found before the opening of the Commonwealth Bank and gifted to Denison Miller - 1912
• MU-000164 Horseshoe - 9ct lucky gold token - gifted to Governor Denison Miller by Mr William Walker - 17 June 1912
• MU-000269 Sculpture - Bronze - Bust of Sir Denison Miller executed by Nelson Illingworth - 1923
• 2018/07329 The Commonwealth Bank - The Facts of its Creation, by King O'Malley (1908)
• 2019/03175 King O'Malley: Man and Statesman, by Dorothy Catts - 1957 (book) (Dr H.C. Coombs’ personal copy)
• MU-000001 Pocket watch - King O'Malley - Omega gold engraved (used as a timepiece at the naming of Canberra ceremony in 1913)
• MU-000227 Stamp - a rubber stamp facsimile of the signature of King O'Malley
• MU-000236 Epergne - Britannia metal stand - engraved “Presented to Mr & Mrs King O'Malley on the occasion of their wedding - May 10th, 1910, from the members of the Australian Labor Party”.
• PN-000574 Commonwealth Bank of Australia - Melbourne - Premises - Bicycle Club Chambers - Exterior - 1912
• PN-000575 Commonwealth Bank - Melbourne - Bicycle Club Chambers (temporary Head Office) - Governor Denison Miller and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher in the Governor's office soon after the Bank opened for business in 1912
• PN-001216 Commonwealth Bank - Melbourne - Bicycle Club Chambers (temporary Head Office) - Governor Denison Miller and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher in the Governor's office soon after the Bank opened for business in 1912
• GHC-T (2006/03081) GOVERNORS & SENIOR PERSONNEL - Dr H.C. Coombs - Thesis - “The Development of the Commonwealth Bank as a Central Bank” - Thesis Accepted for the Master of Arts Degree, University of Western Australia, 1931
• S-d-2 (2006/04769) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 - Regulations, 1912
• S-d-5 (2006/04775) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1911 - 1914 - Regulations, 1914 - 1915
• S-d-7 (2006/04779) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1920 - Section 1 - General, 1913 - 1922
• S-d-7-1 (2006/04780) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1920 - Section 2 - Draft Bills, 1920
• S-d-7-2 (2006/04781) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1920 - Section 3 - Press Cuttings, 1920
• S-d-8 (2006/04786) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1924, 1923 - 1925
• S-d-10 (2006/04790) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank (Savings Bank) Act 1927, 1927
• S-d-12 (2006/04795) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1929 - Mobilization of Gold, 1929
• S-d-82 (2006/04974) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Banking Act 1945 - Section 1I - Mobilisation of Foreign Currency, 1936 - 1945
• S-d-96 (2006/04988) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Banking Act 1945 - Section 19 - Exchange Control - Section 29, 1944 - 1946
• S-d-79 (2006/04971) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Banking Act 1945 - Section 1F - Interest Rates - Administration of Control, 1944 - 1945
• S-d-199 (2006/04906) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank Act 1951 - Section 9 - General, 1950 - 1951
• S-a-447 (2006/07964) SECRETARY'S DEPARTMENT - Commonwealth Bank - Separation Section 4 - Position of Bank Under 1953 Act - 1953-1954
• S-d-237 (2006/05067) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation - Commonwealth Bank and Banking Acts 1953 - Section 43 - Proclamation Date for Commonwealth Bank Act, 1953
• S-d-272 (2006/05058) Secretary's Department - Banking Legislation 1957 - 1959 - Section 1 - Copies of Acts - Reserve Bank Act 1959; Commonwealth Bank Act 1959; Banking (Transitional Provisions) Act 1959, 1959
• C.3.22.4.1 (2006/18998) Research Department - Legislation - Banking Legislation 1953 and 1957 - Draft Commonwealth Bank Act - 1945 - 1953