Did the "ten pound poms" receive any financial assistance?

Question

When the ten pound "poms" came to Australia, were they offered any financial assistance from the government? Also, if anyone has any info on them at all, please share. Thanks

Answer 1

It doesn't seem like they were offered much financial assistance, beyond cheap travel fares, housing in hostels, and maybe a little help with finding a job..

Answer 2

"Ten Pound Poms" are known by this name because the the Australian Government paid the bulk of their fare to Australia.  This left the immigrant then only had to pay the remaining ten pounds of the fare.  Kids were free.

The one condition was that the immigrant had to remain in Australia for at least two years.  If they didn't, they had to pay the full fare.

Upon arrival, they also received indirect financial assistance by way of low cost accommodation at migrant hostels such as: Bonegilla, Benalla, Broadmedows, Holmesglen, Somers and East Preston in Victoria, Rushworth, Stuart and Wacol in Queensland and Northam Holden, Graylands and Cunderdin in Western Australia. In NSW, from 1948 to 1978, migrant hostels operated in Adamstown, Balgownie, Bankstown, Bathurst, Bradfield Park, Bunnerong, Burwood, Matraville, Cabramatta, Cronulla, Dundas,East Hills, Ermington, Goulburn, Greta, Katoomba, Kingsgrove, Kyeemagh, Leeton, Lithgow,Mascot, Mayfield, Meadowbank, Nelson Bay, North Head, Orange, Port Kembla, Port Stephens, Randwick, St Marys, Scheyville, Schofields, Unanderra, Villawood, Wallerawang and Wallgrove.

You can get a complete list of who the ten pound poms were, how they arrived, and when, by visiting the national archives search section.

http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/records...

The ABC has an excellent video on the history of Ten Pound Poms which traces the history of several migrant families here:

http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.as...

You can also find some excellent photographs of this era here:

http://pictureaustralia.org/

At the PictureAustralia site, just seach for "Ten Pound Poms" or "migration".