This series consists of correspondence files relating to voyages of ships from Britain to Australia under the Joint Commonwealth and States' Immigration Scheme between 1921 and 1937. The scheme was decided upon in 1920 and commenced 1 March 1921, the aim being to bolster national development.

Two classes of migrants were assisted: (1) Nominated - by a person already resident in Australia and who would be responsible for the immigrant upon arrival, and (2) Selected - by the Commonwealth representatives in London for a particular occupation in Australia.  
The scheme virtually came to a standstill after 1930 because of the 'depression' and generally the only migrants were family members being re-united in Australia.

The files contain a variety of information including: reports of Boarding Officers in each state at which the ship delivered migrants; lists of assisted passengers; correspondence from the different state offices concerning the passengers often highlighting special cases and irregularities that occured on the voyage; lists of passengers grouped by future occupation and experience; reports of Captains, matrons and welfare officers; and references for girls destined for domestic work.

There is also correspondence from individuals and organizations who nominated people as migrants, such as Victoria League, Dreadnought Trustees and Salvation Army which include personal details of the immigrants, copies of agreements between Captain, matron and Migration and Settlement Office in London.

The correspondence is held in white heavy paper covers with Commonwealth of Australia, the Department name and file number at the top of the front cover. The subject is half-way down the page and the name of the ship, voyage number and sailing date are hand-recorded in blue ink. Below this are cross references to related files - listing migrants names, file number and movement. Folios are held together by metal file pins but are not fastened to the file cover.

Each file has been placed in an acid-free manila folder by Australian Archives. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by name of the ship and then in voyage number order where there was more than one voyage. However, these files were all registered with an annual single number allocated from the Inwards Correspondence register. (CRS B4091). It is not known when, if ever, the files were maintained in the annual single number series.
Quantity in agency custody
4.75m held by CA1727, Australian Archives, Victorian Branch