Canberra, 16 April 1962
Commonwealth Immigrants Act
The British Commonwealth Immigrants Act will come into force on 1st July. An announcement is expected to be made in Britain about 19th April concerning the administrative arrangements and this will be followed by newspaper advertisements here by the British High Commission setting out details of the arrangements.
2. You will recall that Cabinet considered early this year the implications of what was then the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill and agreed that representations should be made for some modifications in the arrangements then proposed in an attempt to provide:
(a) that visitors not intending to work in Britain could be given an endorsement in their passport before leaving Australia that would formally record their right of entry; and
(b) that the majority of young Australians travelling to gain experience abroad be included in the category of ‘those possessing training, skills or educational qualifications likely to be useful to Britain’, and so become entitled to work vouchers, and that these should be issued by the British High Commissioner, Canberra.
3. The arrangements decided upon by the British authorities are:
(i) that persons intending to work in Britain will require an employment voucher for which application must be made direct to the Ministry of Labour, London, unless by reason of certain special qualifications or skills or service in Her Majesty’s Forces, a priority voucher is sought. In these cases, the application is made to the British High Commission, Canberra, and sent on to London. All vouchers will be issued in London and delivered through the British High Commission in Canberra. They will be valid for six months and may be extended in Canberra for an additional three months. This requirement does not apply to persons intending to work in Britain solely in the course of a holiday, and who intend to return to their own country.
(ii) that visitors, students, businessmen and holiday makers will continue to be admitted freely subject to their satisfying the authorities on arrival that they can maintain themselves and do not intend to seek work. Travellers falling within these classes may, if they wish (and this is entirely optional), apply to the British High Commission in Canberra for an entry certificate. This will be an endorsement in the passport and will constitute an assurance of entry subject only to health requirements etc. In the forms of application and instructions for obtaining entry certificates, it is suggested that students without firm arrangements and persons going on working holiday trips obtain an entry certificate before departure.
4. Paragraph 3 (ii) is, of course, valuable but the British authorities could not see their way to delegate authority to the British High Commissioner to issue work vouchers in Australia.
5. Persons with special qualifications or skills such as:
- persons with university degrees or professional qualifications, including qualifications in teaching and nursing;
- draughtsmen and higher technicians;
- skilled craftsmen especially in engineering and building occupations;
- experienced shorthand typists;
going to England for employment are to be issued with work vouchers but as people going on a working holiday do not need these vouchers, it is likely that many young Australians in the above categories going abroad temporarily to gain experience, will fall within the classes eligible for entry certificates. I have been informed confidentially that there will be no form of employment control in Britain, and that there will be no procedure whereby persons who enter as visitors need to seek a work permit after arrival.
6. In order to have forms and instructions available at as many points as possible, we have been asked if stocks could be held by the passport sections in our State offices, which now hold supplies of United Kingdom passport application forms and forms for travel facilities of some other Commonwealth countries. Cabinet did not approve that Australian authorities should act as agents of the British Government to approve or refuse entry into Britain, but there may be no objection to offices simply having forms to be handed out to prospective travellers to England. It has been proposed also that forms might be available through the Labour and National Service Employment Offices. […]
7. There seems to be no doubt that there will be criticism of the arrangements when they are announced by the British authorities. One way and another I think they have tried to meet our requests. There is little more we can do at present but later, if the procedures prove to be unsatisfactory, further representations may be considered, particularly to have work vouchers issued in Canberra.
[NAA: A446, 1970/95739]