Yungaba Immigration Centre was an immigration reception centre in Brisbane, Australia. The centre was built in 1887 in Main Street, Kangaroo Point, along the Brisbane River. The two-storey brick building is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[1]
A new facility was needed as the existing immmigration centre in William Street was inadequate.[1] The first residents were passengers on the migrant ship Duke of Buccleuch who landed on 6 December 1887. While its primary purpose always remained the same, at various times the Yungaba Immigration Centre was used for a range of different purposes.
The centre "has operated as a temporary refuge for the destitute; a reception centre for troops returning from the Boer War; an assembly and departure point for Pacific Islanders being repatriated as a result of the White Australia Policy in the early 1900s; an accommodation centre for workers building the new Story Bridge during the 1930s; and as a hospital that focused on treating venereal diseases during World War II". [2]
The ground floor contain cubicles for married couples and dormitory type accommodation segregated by gender on the upper level.[1] The structure suffered from poor drainage and lacked wharf and quarantine facilities. A poorly implemented wharf was constructed in 1887 and then rebuilt to improve access.[1]