Hi Chris, yes each of the state libraries has its own picture database. I've used the NSW State Library one a lot, as it's the closest and the biggest, but there is some great VW stuff in the other state libraries too, if you know where to look.
The library staff scan lots of old negatives, slides and prints, and have to manually catalogue them. I guess the staff don't have enough car knowledge to know a Commer from a Kombi; fair enough I suppose, as we would be no good sorting and labelling 1950s knitting photos !
Rather than search the individual state library databases, try the National Library's Picture Search. All the state library databases are linked to it, so you'll see all og them come up at once.
Yes try searching the obvious - Volkswagen, Beetle, Kombi, etc etc, but also try the 'left field' searches - Combi, Volkswagon, VW. But I wouldn't have thought of searching for 'Persat'!
http://www.pictureaustralia.org/index.html