Please contact Right to Information Unit, Department of Premier and Cabinet:
Postal Address: PO Box 123, Hobart, Tas, 7001
Email: righttoinformation@dpac.tas.gov.au
Website :http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/rti
Quote this number to access your records: Tasmanian Archives Series Number, AA59
These records are held by Tasmanian Archives (2011 - current).
The Migrant Files, created by the Tasmanian Government Tourist and Immigration Department, date from 1945 to 1982. These records include information about evacuee children, child migrants, including their adoption, and British investigations into the situation of child migrants in Tasmania. They may include names of children. Some of the files in this series relate to Homes that received child migrants, including Hagley Farm School, Boys’ Town, Tresca, St Joseph’s Orphanage, Roland Boys’ Home, and the Big Brother Movement.
Closed C50 years
C50 means that, except to particular groups, these records are closed for 50 years from the date of the last entry in them. People wishing to access them should contact the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Applicants will need to fill out a Personal Information Protection (PIP) form. Staff at the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office may be able to assist you in finding other relevant records. Records older than 50 years are open access. Many of these open access files have been digitised and are available online.
The Migrant Files contain items or files that concern nominated migrants, the person who nominated them, enquiries from possible settlers, and, occasionally, files about specific topics.
The files have been culled. Letters of inquiry where the action only consisted of a reply were destroyed. In some cases, individual migrant names are not listed in the file title and the controlling series of cards (AA60) should be consulted.
The catalogue record for this series on the Tasmanian Archives website has a detailed listing of the items within this series. Tasmanian Archives also holds a set of indexes to the migrant files to assist with locating relevant records. The indexes are arranged by surname, and include other information about individuals including age, religion, place of employment/education, date they left England, date of arrival in Tasmania, and ship travelled on. Index cards for child migrants who disembarked somewhere other than Tasmania (e.g. Fremantle) are also included.