Passenger records provide a valuable source of genealogical (family history) information. Most of the records 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 Archives Sydney office holds inwards and outwards ships passenger lists for the port of Sydney from 1923 onwards. Inwards passenger lists for 1923 to 1966 are available on microfilm in the Sydney office reading room at Chester Hill and the Sydney Records Centre at The Rocks. An alphabetical card index by ship's name, also available on microfilm, is held for inwards ships passenger lists for the years 1923 to 1951. We also hold an incomplete set of passenger lists for the period 1915 to 1922 created by the Customs Service. These records have not been microfilmed but are all listed on RecordSearch at an item level. The complete set of passenger lists prior to 1923 is held by the Archives Office of New South Wales, the New South Wales Government archives and is not microfilmed.
Inwards aircraft passenger lists are also held for Sydney from 1936 to August 1974 (microfilm copies are available for the years 1936 to 1951). We hold outwards aircraft passenger lists for Sydney from 1941 to August 1974.
 | Alphabetical index to ships carrying passengers arriving at Sydney | 1923–51 | C3109 | ||
| Passenger lists, inwards ships, Sydney | 1923–65 | C1115 | ||
| Passenger lists, outwards ships, Sydney | 1923–ongoing | SP1148/2 | ||
| Passenger lists, outwards ships, Sydney | 1965–ongoing | C1116 | ||
| Passenger lists, inwards aircraft, Sydney (Mascot and Rose Bay) | 1936–64 | C3458 | ||
| Passenger lists, outwards aircraft, Sydney | 1941–64 | SP1148/2 | ||
| Passenger lists, inwards aircraft, Sydney | 1963–65 | SP1150/2 | ||
| Passenger lists, inwards aircraft, Sydney (series finishes on 10 August 1974) | 1965–74 | SP1150/1 | ||
| Passenger lists, outwards aircraft, Sydney (series finishes in August 1974) | 1965–74 | SP1150/3 | ||
Inwards and outwards ships passenger lists for the port of Newcastle dating from 1865 are also held (microfilm copies are available for the years 1865 to 1905). Access to the lists for the years 1906 to 1935 may be restricted as they are in a fragile condition and are progressively undergoing preservation treatment and microfilming.
| Crew and passenger lists, inwards and outwards ships, Newcastle | 1865–1935 | C667 | ||
| Passenger lists, inwards ships, Newcastle | 1949–63 | P1151/1 | ||
| Passenger lists, outwards ships, Newcastle | 1950–63 | SP1151/2 | ||
The Sydney office also holds copies of nominal rolls for immigrants arriving in Australia during the period 1947–55 under resettlement schemes sponsored by the International Refugee Organisation. These are held in the record series C1492. If you are unable to locate a passenger list for a ship likely to be conveying refugees in the main series of ships arriving in Sydney, series C1115, you may find a nominal roll of passengers included in C1492.
We also hold microfilm copies of the following passenger lists.
| Darwin – Inwards and outwards lists | 1898–1934 | E1019 | ||
| Bowen – Ships lists inwards | Jan 1897–Dec 1962 | J723 | ||
| Brisbane – Ships lists inwards | Aug 1852–Dec 1964 | J715 | ||
| Bundaberg – Ships lists inwards | Feb 1948–June 1950 | J733 | ||
| Cairns – Ships lists inwards | 1897–Oct 1964 | J725 | ||
| Gladstone – Ships lists inwards | Apr 1924–Sep 1964 | J717 | ||
| Mackay – Ships lists inwards | Oct 1924–Oct 1962 | J729 | ||
| Maryborough – Ships lists inwards | Apr 1929–Mar 1950 | J731 | ||
| Rockhampton – Ships lists inwards | 1898–Oct 1962 | J727 | ||
| Thursday Island – Ships lists inwards | Apr 1924–Jan 1964 | J719 | ||
| Townsville – Ships lists inwards | Jan 1895–Dec 1964 | J721 | ||
| Adelaide – Ships lists inwards | 1941–1964 | D5077 | ||
| Melbourne – Ships lists inwards | Apr 1924–Dec 1964 | B4397 | ||
| Freemantle/Perth – Inwards ships and aircraft | 1898–1963 | K269 | ||
| Freemantle – Shipping registers inwards | 1898–1959 | K737/10 | ||
| Freemantle – Inwards and outwards lists | 1924–1956 | K737/11 | ||
The Archives offices in each capital city hold collections of passenger lists, both originals and copies on microfilm. In addition, the lists and registers in the table above are available on microfilm in each of these offices.
Further information on passenger lists held by Offices of the Australian Archives is available in
Passenger records for the Port of Sydney prior to 1923 are held by the Archives Office of New South Wales, the NSW government archives. Earlier passenger records for other states are generally held by the relevant State Archives. See Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions for contact details.
You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) fromRecordSearch, 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.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated December 2006