Passenger records, which include passenger lists and passenger cards, 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.
We have passenger lists for all ports of Australia from 1924 (with some gaps). Microfilm copies of these records are available for the years July 1924 to June 1936. For later years you will need to search the original records.
 | (Inwards) Ships passenger lists – inwards (Form P2) | 1924–64 | A907 | ||
| (Inwards) Inwards passenger manifests – ships (Form M308) | 1965–ongoing | A1227 | ||
| (inwards) Incoming passenger cards – ships and aircraft | 1965–72 | A1197 | ||
| (Outwards) Ships passenger lists – outwards (Form P1) | 1924–64 | A906 | ||
| (Outwards) Outwards passenger manifests (Form M310) | 1965–ongoing | A1228 | ||
We also hold microfilm copies of the following passenger lists.
| NSW – Newcastle – Inwards and outwards lists | 1865–84 | C667 | ||
| NT – Darwin – Inwards and outwards lists | 1898–1934 | E1019 | ||
| QLD – Bowen – Ships lists inwards | 1897–62 | J723 | ||
| QLD – Brisbane – Ships lists inwards | 1852–64 | J715 | ||
| QLD – Brisbane – Ships lists outwards | 1859–64 | J716 | ||
| QLD – Bundaberg – Ships lists inwards | 1948–50 | J733 | ||
| QLD – Cairns – Ships lists inwards | 1897–64 | J725 | ||
| QLD – Gladstone – Ships lists inwards | 1924–64 | J717 | ||
| QLD – Mackay – Ships lists inwards | 1924–62 | J729 | ||
| QLD – Rockhampton – Ships lists inwards | 1898–62 | J727 | ||
| QLD – Thursday Island – Ships lists inwards | 1924–64 | J719 | ||
| QLD – Townsville – Ships lists inwards | 1924–64 | J719 | ||
| SA – Adelaide – Ships lists inwards | 1941–64 | D5077 | ||
| VIC – Melbourne – Ships lists inwards | 1924–64 | B4397 | ||
| WA – Fremantle / Perth – Inwards ships and aircraft | 1898–1963 | K269 | ||
| WA – Fremantle – Shipping registers inwards | 1898–1959 | K737/10 | ||
| WA – Fremantle – Shipping registers inwards & outwards | 1924–56 | K737/11 | ||
Inwards and outwards.
| Aircraft passenger lists – inwards | 1934–48 | A1230 | ||
| Incoming passenger cards – aircraft | 1948–64 | A1225 | ||
| Inwards passenger manifests – aircraft | 1951–ongoing | A1231 | ||
| Incoming passenger cards – ships and aircraft | 1965–72 | A1197 | ||
| Aircraft passenger lists – outwards | 1934–48 | A1229 | ||
| Outgoing passenger cards – aircraft | 1948–64 | A1226 | ||
| Outwards passenger manifests – aircraft | 1948–ongoing | A1232 | ||
Held in Canberra.
Passenger records may also be found in the ships' file (ie the file for the ship on which the individual arrived in Australia). Ships' files are located in the Department of Immigration's correspondence file series A446, for which inventories (item lists) are available for perusal in the Canberra reading room. You may be able to pick up other general or related information from these files.
Please ask reference staff for guidance in finding these records and well as other records of possible interest.
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.
Further information on passenger lists held by offices of the Archives is available in:
Earlier passenger records are generally held in the state archives for the state in which the port of arrival is located. See Fact Sheet 2 – Addresses of other archival institutions for contact details.
More information about our genealogical collections is also available from this website in the section called Family History.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated January 2009