Tracing Friends and Relatives in Australia

The Australian High Commission receives many enquiries from people trying to trace friends and relatives in Australia.   We cannot assist with these enquiries other than by providing the following information.

1. Australian telephone books can be searched online, white pages and yellow pages.

2. Immigration records can be accessed at the National Archives of Australia which holds records relating to immigration to Australia in the 20th century. Only records over 30 years of age are available for public access. More recent Immigration records are confidential and cannot be used to locate people.

3. You may be able to obtain confirmation of a death from the relevant Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. There is no central office covering the whole of Australia; each State has its own Registrar.

4. Newspaper Advertisements can be placed one of the national or State newspapers.

5.  Enquiries about close relatives only can be directed to:

Children and Families Across Borders: http://cfab.org.uk/what-we-do