After Federation the Police of the 6 States began (c.1902 or 1903) to exchange details of convicted criminals. This set was sent to the South Australian Police who archived it after the practice ceased in 1952. (In 1988 the Public Record Office of South Australian transferred these volumes to the Archives Office of Tasmania). The first two volumes are missing, making it impossible to precisely date the commencement of the practice of exchanging photographs and details of convicted persons. Of the surviving volumes, the first five have been top-numbered by the South Australian Police. Thereafter (from July 1926) Tasmania adopted a volume/folio number system, as used in the mainland States. Each folio contains the name (and any aliases) of the convicted person, their native place, year of birth, religion and level of education. These are followed by a physical description, fingerprint classification and photographs. The details of the present conviction are recorded. Sometimes previous convictions appear on the sheet, sometimes there is a cross-reference to an earlier sheet. The first three volumes were apparently prepared by gaol staff and are not in chronological order, jumping backward and forward through the range of years in each volume. Thereafter the order of the folios follows the date of conviction fairly closely. Since at least 1931 the photographs of convicted persons have been circulated in supplements to the Tasmania Police Gazette.~

These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives