Benalla Migrant Camp

[1] Opened in Benalla in 1949, it housed migrant families until 1967 (including unsupported mothers and their children), when the number of residents had diminished sufficiently for the camp to close.

The camp occupied the former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No.11 Elementary Flying Training School (1941–1944), including its facilities, adjacent to a small aerodrome on the outskirts of Benalla in north east Victoria.

As a humanitarian gesture, Australia's immigration scheme had admitted large numbers of supporting mothers at the request of the International Refugee Organisation, to help it empty the Displaced Persons Camps in Europe.

Benalla was intended only as a short-term solution for accommodating supporting migrant women, and initially, with the turn-over of 30-50 camp residents each month, the system seemed satisfactory.

[3] For most of these women, their best prospects for leaving the camp lay in marriage or by moving into accommodation with their eldest child once he or she was working and could establish a home; but where these opportunities did not exist, there was a problem.

According to historian Bruce Pennay, two developments led to this listing: ‘first, the compilation of an exhibition by Sabine Smyth; and second, the proposed redevelopment of the airport,’ which potentially threatens the site.

The following April, the Benalla Migrant Camp Inc. formed as a volunteer group with the broad aims of continuing the collation of historical material and establishing a permanent memorial exhibition.

The exhibition has since remained open to visitors on a regular basis, with Smyth continuing to gather photographs and stories from ex-camp residents.

Independently from this application, Heritage Advisor Deborah Kemp (employed as a consultant by Benalla Rural City) assessed the site's historical significance as part of the Benalla Airport Redevelopment Plan, ahead of the World Gliding Championships to be held on the site in 2017, and found it to be of local, and most likely also state heritage significance.

[23] The assessment recommended that the site not be included on the Victorian Heritage Register, partly on the basis that its historical connections with post-WWII migration were ‘more clearly demonstrated at the more extensive and intact camp at Bonegilla (VHR H1835) and at the former Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel (H2190).’[24] In February 2016, Heritage Victoria held a Registration Hearing in Benalla to consider this recommendation.

It was also deemed socially significant for its connection with former residents and their families, and its ability to interpret the experiences of post-World War II non-British migrants to the broader Victorian community.

[26] ‘All holding centres…’ Pennay contends, ‘raise embarrassing questions about the cruel and discriminatory policy of family separation, forced movement, assimilation, and the adequacy of support services.’[27] The site, which is owned by Benalla Rural City Council, is currently awaiting a conservation management plan.