Many children have come to Australia without their families under child migration schemes. While a number of schemes operated prior to World War II, it was after the war that schemes involving the migration of large numbers of children were introduced. Some of the children were orphans, whiles others had been placed in the care of British children's homes by their families.

The Commonwealth Department of Immigration was responsible for approving the entry of individuals and recording their arrival. Matters such as accommodation, welfare and reception arrangements generally lay with state governments or charitable bodies such as the Big Brother Movement, Dr Barnardo's Homes, Fairbridge Farm Schools or institutions run by religious orders.

Between 1947 and 1953 more than 3200 children migrated to Australia under approved schemes. Most children were from the United Kingdom, with a small number from Malta. Proposals to include children from Poland and Italy did not proceed.

Record holdings

Records relating to child migrants to New South Wales – including migrant selection documents, passenger lists and immigration policy files – are held by the National Archives in Sydney. Relevant files may also be held by the National Archives in other capital cities.

Migrant selection documents

The range of papers usually found in the files identified as migrant selection documents includes application forms, medical reports, and other papers completed by applicants for assisted migration to Australia from Britain. Consolidated, they contain a wide range of personal details. From November 1948, papers were arranged chronologically by arrival date of the vessel or aircraft.

Personal documents of British migrants and British assisted passage migrants, which include children, are held from 1947 in the following collections (listed in chronological order).

Passenger lists

Each vessel arriving at the port of Sydney (or aircraft arriving at Mascot) was required to lodge a list of incoming passengers. Arranged by date of arrival, passenger lists include the name of each passenger and, in earlier lists, details such as age or marital status. Passenger lists for the period 1923 to 1966 are available as microfilm. See Fact Sheet 64 – Passenger records held in Sydney. Passenger lists will often need to be consulted to establish the vessel name and date of arrival needed to access the migrant selection documents.

Immigration policy files

Files referring to child migration will be found in the main correspondence series of the Department of Immigration in Sydney, and some will contain information about individual children. Examples of relevant items are listed below.

For more information

You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) from RecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.

RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online or in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.

For further information on child migration records held by the Archives see:

• Fact Sheet 124 – Child migration to Australia
• research guide Good British Stock: Child and Youth Migration to Australia
• research guide More People Imperative: Immigration to Australia, 1901–39

Collections in other institutions

Relevant records on child migration may be held by the state government archives institutions. See Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions for contact details.

The Child Migrants' Trust can assist in tracing the background and families of children who came to Australia as unaccompanied child migrants. Its address is: