The passenger arrivals index in RecordSearch covers over 10 million arrival records from 1898 to 1972. This includes arrivals:

• by ship from 1898 to 1966 (Fremantle or other Western Australian ports)
• by aircraft from 1944 to 1966 (Perth airport)
• by aircraft from 1949 to 1964 (all airports)
• by ship and aircraft from 1965 to 1972 (all ports/airports).

Can’t find a record of arrival or departure?

If you can’t locate a record on the index, use the passenger arrival records enquiry form. We can do some searches for you.

To help us, please provide:

• the port or airport of arrival/departure
• name of the vessel or airline
• the month and year of arrival/departure.

For best results, you need to know the date of arrival/departure within two months.

Start with a broad search

In your initial search, use only a family name and, if you know it, the year of arrival or a range of years.

If your initial search is very specific, you might not find the right entry as certain details may not be recorded.

Try variations of family names

You may need to search more than once or use a wildcard search to find variations of family names like:

• Paterson and Patterson
• Abrams and Abrahams
• Mackenzie and McKenzie.

If the family name has more than one word, you must search all words or use a wildcard. If you type ‘Smith’ or ‘Barr’, you will not find the family name Barr Smith.

Given names

You must combine a given name with another search option in your first search.

Around 41 per cent of entries have no given name or only one initial. Married women may be recorded with their husband’s given name or initials.

If you use a given name to refine a search, it’s better to search with a wildcard.

Year of arrival

Use the year that the ship or aircraft arrived in Australia. If you’re unsure, you can use a range of years, for instance 1962–1963.

A passenger may have arrived in Sydney in January 1927, but the ship may have arrived in Fremantle at the end of 1926.

Ship names

Ship names must be typed in full, exactly as spelled, or with a wildcard. This includes if the ship name has more than one word, like:

• Citta de Genova
• City of Sparta
• Moreton Bay.

You can check the spelling of ship names with the ‘View list of ships’ button on the passenger arrivals tab in RecordSearch.

Wildcard searching

Use a question mark to replace one character:

• Hans?n to retrieve Hansen and Hanson.

Use an asterisk to replace more than one character:

• T* to retrieve Thomas, Tom or the initial T
• Thom* to retrieve Thomas, Thoms, Thompson or Thomson
• M*kenzie to retrieve McKenzie and Mackenzie
• Barr* or Barr*Smith to retrieve Barr Smith
• M*farlan* to retrieve Mcfarlane, Macfarland and Macfarlane.

For more assistance, use the Help tab in RecordSearch.