In the closing years of the twentieth century, historians combined to produce large reference volumes of national history. Some were stimulated by anniversaries, notably the dictionary, atlas, gazetteer and chronology, guide to sources and compilation of statistics that were published by Fairfax, Syme and Weldon for the Bicentenary. Some were initiated by publishers, such as the Companion to Australian History (1998) that Graeme Davison, John Hirst, and I edited for Oxford University Press.

In the opening years of the present century, the historical profession has turned its attention to states and cities. The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History appeared in 2001, then the Companion to Tasmanian History and the Encyclopedia of Melbourne in 2005. A similar work for Sydney is being prepared, and no doubt others will follow.