Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia

The Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia (HEWA) from the Centre for Western Australian History at the University of Western Australia was published in June 2009. Although work on it started in 2003, the idea within the university for an historical encyclopedia of Western Australia dates to the early 1990s.

Context
Two comparable earlier works are Cyclopedia of Western Australia by James Battye in 1912–1913, and A New History of Western Australia by Tom Stannage in 1981.

In its introduction, the encyclopedia suggests it "provides an outstanding reference for researchers, teachers, students and the general public that will enable them to locate information about significant events, institutions and places, themes and topics in the history of Western Australia."

Following publication of the encyclopedia, an index, alphabetical list of entries and a list of errata known at the time was published in 2010 to complement the encyclopedia. Hardcopies of the encyclopedia were sold at the State Library of Western Australia, advertised in part as follows. "The Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia has more than 300 contributors and through this collaboration has become the 'People's Encyclopedia' – a gift to the people of Western Australia from the historians of Western Australia."

Papers relevant to the preparation and composition of the work were deposited in the State Library of Western Australia in the 2000s.

In 2010 the encyclopedia was shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier's Book Award.

Contemporaneous volumes in Australia
In her introduction, Gregory places the publication with others from other states: 1. Oxford Companion to Australian History (1998),

2. Wakefield Companion to South Australian History (2001),

3. Companion to Tasmanian History (2005), and

4. Encyclopedia of Melbourne (2005).