Child migration to Australia – Fact sheet 124

Encouragement for child migration

In the years following World War II, a popular immigration slogan was 'the child, the best immigrant'. Children constituted a particularly attractive category of migrant because they were seen to assimilate more easily, were more adaptable, had a long working life ahead and could be cheaply housed in dormitory style accommodation.

Between 1947 and 1953 over 3200 children migrated to Australia under approved schemes. About 100 of them were Maltese while the remainder came from the United Kingdom. Other European countries were asked if they would like to participate in the child migration scheme but declined.

Over 30 homes were approved by the Commonwealth for the housing of child migrants. Most of these were run by voluntary and religious organisations. It was not government policy to provide homes specifically for migrant children; however, the government did contribute towards the capital expenditure incurred by these organisations in setting up suitable homes. Both the Commonwealth and State governments contributed towards running costs. The governments of the United Kingdom and Malta also paid maintenance for their children who had emigrated to approved institutions in Australia.

Personal documents of child migrants

As the role of the Commonwealth government was mainly that of an overseer (the programs being administered by the States), most of the records held by the Archives are general policy files. Some series of child migrant case files are held by a number of our offices. You should contact the office where the records are held to inquire if there is a record on a specific individual. Personal documents of child migrants held by the Archives

Canberra

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Books of duplicate naturalisation certificates (children)	1949–58	A1996

Melbourne+

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Maltese migrant selection documents*	1948–61	B3985
	British migrant selection documents*	1947–61	B3986
	British under-age migrant selection documents	1947–63	B4061

Perth

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Child migration selection documents – British children	1947–59	PP93/10
	Child migration selection documents – Maltese children	1947–59	PP93/11

+ Please ask for assistance to locate records on individual child migrants within these series.
* You need to know the name of the ship the child travelled on and the date of arrival to identify records on specific children in these series.

Other records on child migration

General and policy files on child migration occasionally include names of individual child migrants and/or their custodians. Some of these items are listed below. Further keyword searching on the names of the schemes or approved homes (eg Fairbridge, Big Brother, Dr Barnardo's, Castledare) can identify additional relevant files which may contain names of individuals.

Records naming child migrants held in Canberra

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Dreadnought boys – NSW	1921–45	A461, G349/1/7
	Immigration – Barnardo Boys	1921–44	A461, H349/1/7
	Barnardo's homes – NSW nominations	1936–39	A436, 1946/5/7
	Big Brother movement, New South Wales nominations	1938–42	A659, 1942/1/3374
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – Tasmania	1940	A659, 1940/1/6451
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – Queensland	1940	A659, 1940/1/6453
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – Western Australia	1940–43	A659, 1943/1/4132
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – NSW – part I	1940–44	A659, 1944/1/355
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – Queensland – part I	1940–44	A659, 1944/1/1134
	Overseas children – letters from	1943–46	A659, 1946/1/782
	Overseas Childrens' Scheme – Queensland – part II	1944–45	A659, 1944/1/3895
	Overseas children – Discharges from scheme and return to England	1945–46	A436, 1946/5/210
	Admissions to Australia of British and refugee children – policy	1945–47	A461, Q349/1/7
	St Joseph's Orphanage and St Vincent's Foundling Home, Leederville, WA	1948–51	A445, 133/2/40

For more information

• Good British Stock: Child and Youth Migration to Australia by Barry Coldrey also contains valuable information about holdings on child migration.
• Child migrant records held in Sydney

Information held by other institutions

Child migration schemes were administered by State governments, therefore there may be relevant records (particularly case files created by the State welfare departments) in the various State government archives. Information about these holdings are included in Child Migrants: Accessing records held by Commonwealth and State Archives on the website of the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities

Many of the organisations which arranged for children to migrate to Australia (eg the Christian Brothers, Dr Barnardo's) as well as the homes which accepted them (eg St Joseph's, Castledare) also hold relevant records. Several of the homes have registers of all the children who stayed in them. You should contact the relevant organisation (which may have offices both in the United Kingdom and in Australia) or home to inquire whether they hold records on a specific individual.

The Child Migrants Trust can also assist you to trace the background and families of children who came to Australia as unaccompanied child migrants. The Trust can be contacted at:

In 1999 the Western Australian Government launched the Former Child Migrants Referral Index which includes the identification and arrival details for the 2 950 child migrants who arrived in Western Australia between 1913 and 1968. The database also indicates where records relating to each child migrant are held. Direct inquiries to the WA Family Information Records Bureau by telephone on 1800 000 277.