Passenger records, such as passenger lists and passenger cards, can provide evidence of the arrival of a person in Australia and are therefore a valuable source of information for family historians and researchers. Passenger lists are arranged by the date, name of the ship and the port of arrival or departure. Unless you know these details your search may be very time consuming.
The National Archives office in Brisbane holds inwards and outwards passenger lists for all Queensland ports, with those for the port of Brisbane dating from as early as 1852. Details of the passenger lists held for all Queensland ports are listed in the table below. Note that lists may be available as originals or as microfilm copies. Lists that pre-date the Archives holdings for individual ports may be held by the Queensland State Archives (see Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions for contact details). Prior to 1924, passenger lists also included a list of crew.
Registers of passenger lists shown in the table below can help you determine which passenger lists you are looking for. Registers show the names of the vessels, number of passengers, date of arrival or departure and the origin or destination of the ship.
* available as microfilm
![]() | Bowen * | 1897–1963 | J723 | ||
![]() | Brisbane * | 1852–1964 | J715 | ||
![]() | Brisbane and other Queensland ports | 1965–74 | BP264/1 | ||
![]() | Bundaberg * | 1948–50 | J733 | ||
![]() | Cairns * | 1897–1964 | J725 | ||
![]() | Gladstone * | 1924–64 | J717 | ||
![]() | Mackay * | 1924–64 | J729 | ||
![]() | Maryborough * | 1929–50 | J731 | ||
![]() | Rockhampton * | 1898–1962 | J727 | ||
![]() | Rockhampton | 1966–70 | BP659/2 | ||
![]() | Thursday Island * | 1924–64 | J719 | ||
![]() | Townsville * | 1895–1964 | J721 | ||
![]() | Townsville | 1963–70 | BP659/3 | ||
![]() | Bowen | 1897–1963 | J724 | ||
![]() | Brisbane (lists for 1852–1911 are available as microfilm) | 1852–1964 | J716 | ||
![]() | Brisbane and other Queensland ports | 1965–75 | BP264/2 | ||
![]() | Cairns | 1897–1964 | J726 | ||
![]() | Gladstone | 1924–64 | J718 | ||
![]() | Mackay | 1924–61 | J730 | ||
![]() | Maryborough | 1929–50 | J732 | ||
![]() | Rockhampton | 1898–1964 | J728 | ||
![]() | Thursday Island | 1924–64 | J720 | ||
![]() | Townsville | 1895–1964 | J722 | ||
The Brisbane office also holds microfilm copies of passenger lists for the following Australian ports in States other than Queensland.
![]() | NSW – Newcastle – inwards | 1865–84 | C667 | ||
![]() | NT – Darwin – inwards | 1898–1934 | E1019 | ||
![]() | SA – Adelaide – inwards | 1941–64 | D5077 | ||
![]() | Vic – Melbourne – inwards | 1924–64 | B4397 | ||
The Brisbane office also holds the following records of arrivals to Queensland:
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.
Further information on passenger lists held by the Archives is available in