Abstract:
The administration and control of immigration to Australian during the twentieth century produced a huge archive of records of individual migrants that have potential for innovative approaches to the business and economic history of ethnic minority groups. This article describes some of these records, which have mostly been used by amateur family historians, focused on those related to Chinese immigrants before the World War II and Southern Europeans immigrants after 1945. The article gives examples of how these records can be used, suggests potential research projects, and discusses briefly some of the guides available. Several images of these archival documents are reproduced. Copyright 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand 2006.