Summary heading
Migration documents
Function and purpose
In 1958 Australia’s immigration requirements were revised.
The Migration Act 1958 revised Australia’s immigration entry requirements. The
Dictation Test was abolished and a simpler system of entry permits was
introduced. In 1966 the Australian government announced that applications for
immigration would now be considered on the basis of whether the applicants
were: suitable as settlers, able to integrate readily, and possessed skills or
qualifications useful to Australia. Assisted passage schemes for non-British
immigrants were provided by the Australian government.
This series contains migrant selection documents for
non-British European migrants entering Australia under assisted passage schemes
between 1966 and 1973. Documents for each migrant typically include: a medical
report, a signed agreement between the migrant and the Commonwealth Government
concerning the conditions of migration, a questionnaire concerning trade or
professional qualifications, an application for assisted passage and notice of
departure either by ship or plane.
Related legislation
Migration Act 1958
Using the series
This series was received at Archives in parcels of ‘bundles’
of records. The bundles were numbered with each bundle containing records of
migrants designated to travel on a particular voyage or flight. For each voyage
or flight a nominal roll of designated passengers was created and each person
listed on the roll was identified by a nominal roll number. Successive nominal
roll numbers were generated for family groups and the documents grouped
together as one record item (placed in one folder) eg
1126-1129 would be a single record relating to a four person family group.
Details of a voyage or flight can be searched for by entering the departure
date, place of departure (eg Ex Vienna/Austria), ship
name or flight details. Where the year/bundle number is known for a voyage or
flight, entering the first two control symbol components followed by an asterisk
(eg 1972/46*) will call up items associated with that
flight or voyage (ie the files of passengers
designated to travel on the voyage or flight). All items in this series in the
custody of the Archives have been entered at item level.
NB: Unlike a passenger list, which notes all the persons
that traveled on a voyage or flight, a nominal roll is a list of persons
‘designated’ for travel under a specific migration scheme. There may be
discrepancies between the designated travel details and the actual departure
and arrival dates of migrants.
Language of material
Documents are frequently written in the language of the
applicant and/or the language of the country in which the application was
lodged. Some records show that the application was not made in the migrant’s
country of origin eg a Yugoslavian who applied
through the Australian Embassy Migration Office in Austria. Application forms
were also printed in a variety of European languages.
Physical characteristics
System of arrangement and control
These selection documents were sent to the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre (CA 1452)
from a number of Australian overseas posts. Bonegilla
controlled the records using two levels of control: the annual single number
(bundle number) and a numerical control for each record in a bundle. Each
bundle was controlled under an annual single number system. The annual number
was the year of migration to Australia and the single number related to travel
by a designated flight or voyage. For example bundle ‘1972/46’ contained
migrant selection documents for people designated to travel to Australia in
1972 aboard Qantas flight MIQF 23/188-72 (departed Vienna 27 June 1972). The
numerical control for records was a nominal roll number, or a range of numbers
for family groups, for a designated flight or voyage.).
The arrangement of the series retains the order in which
most of the material was received at Archives. Wherever possible the annual
single number system, registered for the bundles by Bonegilla,
was kept as a primary element of intellectual control. The arrangement is
indicated by the components used in the majority of item control symbols ie: year of arrival in Australia/individual bundle number
and nominal roll number or range of numbers. For example:
1972/83/1069 – control symbol for a single person where
‘1972/83’ is the year/bundle number and ‘1069’ the nominal roll number
1972/46/1126-1127 – control symbol for a two person family
where ‘1972/46’ is the year/bundle number and ‘1126-1127’ are the nominal roll
numbers
Where a bundle number was unknown at the item was registered
by the Archives, a number was imposed by Archives an alphabetical sequence (A
to Z and AA to ZZ,) as part of the control. Imposed control symbols note the
year of proposed arrival (ascertained from the documents contained in the
file), an imposed letter or letters in place of the bundle number, and the
nominal role number/s as found on the documents eg
1957/A/255-257.
Relationships with other records
The series came to an end in 1973 when the Department
adopted a different method of control, an annual single number with SD prefix,
for the documents – this is series A2917.
Series A13210 contains the immigration nominal rolls for
flights and voyages to Australia for the period 1951 to 1973.
The register created by Bonegilla
to control the receipt of the incoming parcels of records was registered as CRS
A2563 but was not transferred to Archives and may no longer to exist.
Finding aids
Access conditions
Series history
Provenance
Immediate source of acquisition
Custodial history
Quantity in agency custody
Disposal history
Publication note
Additional information
End notes
Sources
A2559 Series file notes
Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Immigration:
Federation to Century's End, Part 2 Immigration to Australia during the 20th
Century - Historical Impacts on Immigration Intake, Population size and
population composition - A Timeline.
www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/federation/timeline1.pdf accessed
online February 2009