History Talks:
Sept 4, 7.30pm, Burnside Uniting Church, Cnr Fisher & Portrush Roads
MIGRANT WORK CAMPS – 1948-1960
Speaker: Karen Agutter
Following the Second World War, Displaced Persons and assisted European migrants, especially those arriving under special worker schemes, were essential to Australia’s post-war recovery and economic expansion. In return for their passage, these men and women were required to work for two years, as placed by the departments of Labour and Immigration. The labour of these so called “new Australians” increased the productivity of virtually every industry, from food to brick production, and was crucial to the success of infrastructure projects including those involving the railways, water supply and road expansion. Migrant women provided essential labour in hospitals, sanatoriums, hotels and private houses.
In return for migrant labour, employers were expected to provide accommodation, the quality and style of which varied from barracks to basic tents, even to cots on the factory floor. By the mid-1950s, South Australia had received more than 15,000 migrant workers. In this talk I will examine the conditions under which these migrants lived and worked as they fulfilled their two-year work contracts, often separated from their families both in Australia and in Europe.
Karen Agutter is an historian with a focus on the history of migration, particularly issues of migrant identity and the relationship between new arrivals and receiving populations. Karen has PhDs from both Flinders and Adelaide Universities, is a registered professional historian, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide.