In 1955 it was decided to divide the State Library into six operational units including the JS Battye Library of West Australian History. The Library was named after Dr James Sykes Battye, the first public librarian in Western Australia and was responsible for the collection and preservation of all materials relating to the history and literature of Western Australia. This included the Archives Office, later called the State Archives, until that body became a separate directorate in 1987.

An Archives Branch (of the Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia) was established in 1945 upon the appointment of Mollie Lukis as the first State Archivist. The Branch continued until 1955 when the Battye Library was formed. Both the Archives Branch and the Battye Library then operated as a single unit until 1978. In that year a Deputy State Archivist was appointed and the State Archives of Western Australia operated as a section of the Battye Library.

In 1988 the State Archives of Western Australia became a separate directorate within the Library and Information Service of Western Australia and was renamed the Public Records Office in 1995.

In 2001, the State Records Office of Western Australia was formed as a statutory office independant of the library system.