Summary heading

PP135/2 – Medical examination forms (form 47A), alphabetical series

Function and purpose

This series comprises medical examination forms, submitted by aliens, and British subjects born outside the United Kingdom, on arrival in Australia.

When aliens, or British who were born outside the United Kingdom, applied for a visa to enter Australia they were required to submit Form 47A, Medical Examination form.  They were required to undergo a medical examination and return the form 47A with their completed visa application.  If satisfactory, the form was returned to them with their visa. Upon arrival in Australia migrants were required to produce both these documents to the Department of Immigration.  If, on arrival, the form 47A had been lost or mislaid the person concerned was admitted on a Certificate of Exemption for three months. They were required to complete a new form 47A and until this completed form was received by the department, no decision could be given whether or not permanent residence, or specified periods of residence, would be permitted. 

The forms are double sided. The first page consists of a declaration by the intending migrant regarding their medical history, particularly whether they, or their family, have a history of tuberculosis, mental illness, trachoma and other serious medical conditions. Following this is a table in which the medical examiner was required to state whether various characteristics were “normal”, and if not were required to “give particulars of any departure from normal”. These include heart rate, blood pressure, lungs, nervous system, mental condition and intelligence, digestive organs, skeleton, skin, hearing, sight, genito-urinary organs, urine, teeth, deformities, X-Ray, and blood test. The reverse side of the form is for the medical examination of any of the migrant’s children, and comprises a similar table as for the second half of the first side. Photographs of any children are also attached to the reverse side of the form. The forms are also signed by the intending migrant as well as the medical examiner and have been stamped as sighted by the relevant country’s local British Consulate.     

Physical characteristics

The form 47A is a one page double sided form which was completed at the time of the medical examination and certified by the signatures of the medical examiner and the intending migrant. The majority of the forms also have a passport sized photograph attached of the intending migrant and any family who were included on the form. 

System of arrangement and control

The forms were originally arranged in alphabetical order within bundles according to date of arrival.  In order to aid retrieval the forms have been arranged into full alphabetical order by surname. An alphabetical system of control has also been imposed by the Archives.

Relationships with other records

This series is part of a larger group of records that document the permanent migration of individuals to Australia. This group includes medical examination forms, migrant selection documents, nominal rolls and passenger cards. See series links for individual series numbers. 

Finding aids

As all records in this series have been described at item level in the RecordSearch database, a form relating to a particular person(s) can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No PP135/2).    

Additional information

The following data was keyed from the paper documentation at the time of transfer to the Archives:

Form number:                           CA 17

Creating department:                 IMMIGRATION, W.A. BRANCH OFFICE, REGISTRY

Transferring department:           IMMIGRATION, W.A. BRANCH OFFICE, REGISTRY

Date of transfer:                        12/07/1962

Archives file number:                 RWP28/1/30