The records in this series were created and maintained by the Shipping Branch of the Collector of Customs at Port Adelaide and are concerned with the administration/reporting of the movement of passengers and crew in and out of South Australia.

The period covered by this series is from 1939 to 1951 and therefore includes the 1939-1945 War. Correspondence from this period is concerned with the monitoring of National Security Regualations, evacuees from Darwin, Japanese ship's crew etc. From 1939 to 1945 the Shipping Branch reported to the Department of Interior who were responsible for administering the Immigration Act, Emigration Act and the Passport Act.

Matters dealt with by the agency were - certificates exempting people from the dictation test, certificates of exemption for crew who had to stay behind in Australia for various reasons (mostly medical), persons refused admission on grounds of being prohibited immigrants, notifications of coloured persons leaving the state, applications and issue of passports and permits etc prepared for issue or renewal, extension of landing permits, Immigration reports for passenger ships notifying all prohibited and restricted persons.

The functions for immigration and passport control passed to the newly created Department of Immigration on 13 July 1945. The Adelaide office of this agency opened 29 August 1946. During this time, and up to 1951, the staff of the Shipping Branch continued to work a certain percentage of their time on immigration functions, such as the issue of passport and other travel documents (from their Adelaide office) and immigration, cemigrations and passports (from Port Adelaide). This record series was closed sometime in 1951 when these functions were taken over, in their entirety, by the Department of Immigration (CA 959). The relevant successor series is D400, correspondence files, single number series with 'SA' prefix.

The records in this series are controlled in an annual single number sequence with an SB (Shipping Branch) prefix. The folios on the file are held together with a paper binder as well as a backing sheet and have been placed between manilla folders by the Australian Archives. The top folio is identified with the Shipping Branch stamp which consists of the file number and the date.

D1976/1 was relocated from South Australia to the ACT in November 2021.