Function and purpose

This series consists of correspondence files documenting operational functions of the Department of Interior from 1939 to 1945 and of the Department of Immigration from 1946 to 1950.

Until the end of 1938 the Department of Interior created almost all their operational files in the one general correspondence file series, annual single number system (CRS A1) which they had inherited in 1932 and which had been maintained by a succession of agencies since 1903. This series embraced all the various functions that the department administered, including:

• migration function (which included both inward movement, that is, immigration, and outward movement (issue of passports to Australians etc),
• administration of the ACT
• administration of the Northern Territory
• administration of external island territories
• meteorology
• forestry
• Australian War Memorial
• elections
• Lands and Surveys

However, from the beginning of 1939 a new system was introduced for the operational files; the main sequence of files was continued, much like A1, but three new sequences were introduced each dealing with one specific area of the migration function – Restricted Immigration; Non-British European Migration; and Naturalizations.

All the other aspects of the migration function (of which the bulk of the files related to Australians travelling overseas - issue of passports, ‘travel facilities’, etc) as well as all the other functions administered by the Department (ie ACT administration etc) remained in the main omnibus sequence, which was labelled ‘General and Passports’.

The four sequences of files were designated ‘Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4. (There is evidence that an older custom of designating the sequence by the term ‘cabinet’, which was a reference to the physical cabinet in which the files were stored, was adopted initially but was discontinued at an early date.) The annual single number format, used for so long to control the files of series A1, was again employed for all four sequences, but, in order to distinguish file numbers in each of the four sequences, the Class number was inserted between the annual component and the sequential number as a numeric infix. Effectively then, from 1 Jan 1939 the one series CRS A1 was ended and in its place there were four new series. (Or at least this was the intention – it appears that the naturalization case files in fact continued to be registered in the Class 1 sequence until the end of 1943; the Class 4 sequence did not commence until January 1944. The 1941 files in particular include a very large number of naturalization cases):

Class 1 – ‘General, Passports’ – Item number format 1939/1/1 (A659)

Class 2 – ‘Restricted Immigration’ – Item number format 1939/2/1 (A433)

Class 3 – ‘Non-British European Migration – Item number format 1939/3/1 (A434)

Class 4 – ‘Naturalizations’ – Item number format 1944/4/1 (A435)

In practice the file numbers for this series were often represented as standard annual single number format without the ‘1’ infix (for example: 1940/2345 instead of 1940/1/2345) It seems to have been a matter of personal habit which format was shown – suggesting that the Class 1sequence was regarded as in effect a continuation of the A1 sequence, rather than something new – whereas the item numbers for the other three classes were always shown with the numeric infix

There was very extensive top-numbering from series A1 into A659 (and the other new series), mostly from year 1936, 1937 and 1938 .

Until the end of 1945 the great majority of the files in A659 related to the migration function - there were relatively few dealing with the other functions of the department – ACT administration etc. This may have reflected the relatively low level of activity relating to these function during the war years.

In July 1945 a separate Department of Immigration was created and the migration function was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the new department from that date. However, there seems to have been no immediate change to record keeping practice. For the remainder of that year new files dealing with the migration function continued to be registered in the same control register in accordance with the established scheme of control (and were therefore files of A659) presumably by the same staff, effectively acting on behalf of the Immigration Department. For this period also (that is, to 31 December 1945) the other non-migration functions continued to be recorded in this series.

However from the beginning of 1946, the A659 series (along with the other three series) was taken over by the Department of Immigration and was thereafter devoted exclusively to the migration function – the same range of activities as previously – that is, matters related to Australians travelling abroad, issue of passports, obtaining visas, provision of ‘travel facilities’, etc and some ‘whereabouts’ cases. (Note that all these types of ‘migration’ functions were transferred from the Immigration Department to the Department of Foreign Affairs (CA 1382) in March 1975.) The great majority of the files are personal case files – there are only a few more generic operational files dealing with associated matters – for example, visa agreements with other countries, reports from overseas posts, relevant legislation of other countries, operations of shipping lines, etc.

Note that from January 1946 the non-migration functions that had previously been recorded in A659 were recorded in a new series A431 begun by the Department of the Interior.

Series A659 was ended in December 1950 (along with all the other Class series, which by then had been expanded to seven) and was replaced by a new suite of series (again designated as ‘Classes’) which consisted of one general or policy series and six others which were all case file series differentiated only by the range of the alphabet in which the surname occurred.

As the control register series (A306) had remained in the custody of the Department of Interior, the Department of Immigration began a new file register (A6064) to record the new files raised in A659 from January 1946 onwards.

The range of A659 files for each year is as follows:

Raised by Department of the Interior (in register A306)

1939/1/1 - 1939/1/16807

1940/1/1 - 1940/1/8871

1941/1/1 - 1941/1/7946

1942/1/1 - 1942/1/8219

1943/1/1 - 1943/1/7775

1944/1/1 - 1944/1/4855

1945/1/1 - 1945/1/5963

Raised by Department of Immigration (in register A6064)

1946/1/1 - 1946/1/4528

1947/1/1 - 1947/1/2700

1948/1/1 - 1948/1/2107

1949/1/1 - 1949/1/1888

1950/1/1 - 1950/1/2702

Note that it was usual practice to reserve a small block of numbers at the beginning of each annual sequence (usually 25 or 50 numbers) for files with are of an annually-recurring nature. In the event only a few of these reserved numbers were used each year so there is normally a range of unused numbers near the beginning for each year

In about 1943 a number of files dealing with railways personnel were transferred to CA265 Commonwealth Railways Commission. They do not appear to have been subsequently top-numbered into that agency’s record keeping system and therefore have retained their status as items of A659. These files are presently held by National Archives, Victorian office. These were formerly accessioned as MP399/1 and MP1446/2 and their conversion to A659 was completed in 1990.

All the items extant and held by the National Archives, Canberra were entered into the RecordSearch database in January 1997.

System of arrangement and control

The files are controlled by what is in effect an annual single number system with a numeric infix designating the ‘class’ which comprise the series – in this case Class 1.

The control numbers (for example 1949/1/235) therefore have the appearance of a multiple number system but this is not an appropriate designation for this series because the first component number is the year, the second component is a constant and the third component is a sequence which embraces every item of the series raised in one year and which recommences from 1 at the start of each year. Compare this to a classic multiple number series where the first and second components are variables representing authorised primary and secondary subject headings while the third component is a sequential number drawn from a sequence dedicated to each unique combination of first and second components, and the sequences never recommence from 1.