Yungaba Immigration Centre

Building in 2015

Migrant group on the lawn at Yungaba, 24 June 1958

Yungaba Immigration Centre is a former immigration reception centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The centre was built in 1887 in Main Street, Kangaroo Point, along the Brisbane River. The two-storey brick building was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.^[1]

History and use

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] Following World War II, it was used as a migrant reception and training centre for European migrants. The volume of post-war immigration was such that the hostel was unable to cope with all the new arrivals, and the bulk were re-directed to empty military camps around the Brisbane, especially Camp Columbia at Wacol.^[1]

Structure

The ground floor contained 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]

See also

• Immigration to Australia

References

External links

• Further information is available through Queensland State Archives' catalogue ArchivesSearch