Summary heading
PP139/2 -
Medical examination forms (form 47A), single number 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.
The records
in this consignment relate predominantly to Italian and Yugoslav
migrants.
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 by the applicant’s date of arrival in Australia.
In order to aid retrieval the forms have been arranged into alphabetical order by
surname and had a numerical system of control has 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
medical examination forms in this series have been entered into the
RecordSearch database, a form relating to a particular person(s) can be
retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No
PP139/2).
Additional information
The following data was keyed from the paper
documentation:
Form number:
CA 17
Creating department: Immigration,
Branch Office WA, Registry
Transferring department: Immigration, Branch Office
WA, Registry
Date of transfer: 16/08/1962
Archives file number: RWP28/1/32