In 1968, Western Australian artist Elizabeth Durack was invited to Papua and New Guinea by the Department of External Territories to give her impression of the role women were playing in the development of the Territory. Elizabeth’s observations were documented in annotations and drawings of the women and girls she met whilst travelling throughout the Territory. There are no other pictorial records of women in Papua and New Guinea from that time, so this historical collection fills a significant gap that enables scholarly research to be undertaken in this area.

This collection, comprising 410 items, was acquired by the Australian National University Library from the Estate of Elizabeth Durack in February 2016 and has now been digitised.