Soldier Settlements

Research Guide to soldier settlement records at Queensland State Archives.

Queensland State Archives holds records about soldier settlements following the First World War and the Second World War. Under the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act 1917 and associated regulations, every discharged member of the armed forces was entitled to apply for land and financial assistance. This Act included war workers, munitions workers, and the dependents of a deceased soldier or sailor such as a widow, mother, sibling, or child who was dependent upon earnings 12 months prior to enlistment. The main purpose of this Act was to place ‘willing and suitable settlers on the land’. It also aimed to open new land for settlement and at the same time to provide employment and assistance for the thousands of discharged soldiers.