immigration timeline

By tommymiller

  • 1854 - Assisted Immigration

    In the first month of 1854 the Tasmanian government introduced a new system of arrival. Immigrants were signed up for precise employers before leaving their home country. Settlers from some countries outside Britain were also encouraged to emigrate.

  • 1820 Free Land Grants

    Between the years 1820 to 1831 free land grants were given settlers to go to Tasmania. The amount of land granted to them was decided on the goods and money they brought with themselves.

  • 1830 Assisted Immigration

    In June 1831 Emigration Commission was started in London. It set up two orders to encourage immigration to the Australian colonies which became known as bounty schemes (programs). The first of these was aimed at single women who would work as domestic servants.

  • 1840 Assisted Immigration

    1840 - Assisted Immigration Early in 1840 the local newspaper appeared in Launceston and Hobart newspapers calling for the government to encourage arrival to the colony.

  • 1881 - White Australia

    All Australian colonie passed acts in the 1880s to check who was able to enter and remain as settlers. Tasmania took longer to do this, but finally introduced a tax of ten pounds on all Chinese immigrants in 1887.

  • 1911 - Assisted Immigration

    In 1911 a pattern was introduced where people of Tasmania were able to nominate a relative or friend in the UK as an assisted immigrant. Those who nominated an immigrant agreed to house and find employment for them.

  • 1911 - Assisted Immigration

    Migrants also arrived from Malta and British Columbia around this period. In 1915 the nomination scheme only allowed immigrants aged below 40, or below 35 in the case of single women.

  • 1946 world war 2

    During World War 2 Japan successfully carried out bombing raids on Darwin and managed to get submarines into Sydney Harbour. It was believed that the only way Australia could support itself in the future was to build up its population. This led to the slogan ‘Populate or perish’. After the war assisted immigration was encouraged from a number of countries under a range of scheme.

  • 1948 - Child Migration

    In 1946 the Australian and British governments made agreements that led to children being brought to Australia and placed in institutions for their care. A number of groups, such as the Big Brother Movement and the Fairbridge people operated schemes to bring out children and care for them.

  • 1975 - Refugees

    Since 1975 Australia has accepted refugees from a number of countries. The United Nations defines refugees as people who are outside their country of nationality or their usual country of residence; and are unable or unwilling to return or to seek the protection of that country due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and among other things, are not war criminals or people who have co