Immigration Restriction Act 1901

Target Language or Knowledge:

On 23 December 1901 the Immigration Restriction Act became law. It was one of the first laws passed by the new Australian federal parliament. The law was designed to allow British people to migrate to Australia and to limit all other migration. The colonies had restrictive immigration laws before federation, but the Act formalised the idea of a ‘White Australia’ as national policy. The policy lasted until the 1960s and was completely removed by the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975.