FAQs
Will there be more Welcome Walls?
The Welcome Walls - Fremantle project has closed and the Western Australian Museum – Maritime has no more available land for further walls.
However, the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Welcome Wall at Darling Harbour in Sydney is presently registering migrants who arrived in Australia through any port in Australia. You can find information online at anmm.gov.au, or you can telephone 02 9298 3667 during business hours in Sydney.
The Welcome Walls project at the WA Museum - Albany was a one-off project and there are no plans to extend the walls.
Will there be Welcome Walls established at other coastal towns?
While the WA Museum was pleased to have provided so many migrants with the chance to have their names displayed on the Welcome Walls in recognition of their arrival in the State, the Western Australian Museum is not planning to undertake any further projects of this nature in the foreseeable future.
If my name is wrong on the wall, can I have it fixed?
Every possible precaution was taken to ensure the information provided by registrants’ was inscribed on the Welcome Walls correctly.
The Museum contacted each registrant on several occasions seeking amendments or edits of the registration details prior to the construction of the Welcome Walls.
Unfortunately, as the project has now closed, the Museum is unable to change anything inscribed on the wall.
Can I add or amend information displayed on the Welcome Walls website?
Due to the end of the project, changes to online database listings on the Welcome Walls website can no longer be accepted. From 1 April 2011 a ‘comment and responses’ facility will allow registrants and their families to continue to enter additional information to their listings on the Welcome Walls website. Please check the Welcome Walls website for further details.
If I don’t like my inscription, can I have a refund?
This is now not possible as the money has been paid out as part of completing the project/s.
My name is on earlier walls and it doesn’t look as good as the new ones. Can I have it replaced?
New technology allowed the final stage of the Welcome Walls to use glass panels displaying names as a way of integrating all three stages of the project with the overall design of the building, which has large expanses of glass.
There are no plans to convert the existing stainless steel names over to glass.
I am on the previous stage of the Welcome Walls in Fremantle and the paint is coming off my name, what is being done about this?
The Museum will continue to monitor the condition of the walls and refurbish as funding permits. The stage one panels have now been refurbished and the Museum is trialing a new method of conserving paint in the harsh marine environment with a wax coating.
My name is on the glass walls and it doesn’t look as good as the first two stages, can I have it replaced?
The glass walls were included as new technology to trial improving the readability of the panels over time.
As the project is now complete, unfortunately names can not be moved or relocated.
My name is on the stainless walls and it doesn’t look as good as the glass walls, can I have it replaced?
The glass walls were included as new technology to trial improving the accessibility and readability of the panels over time.
Unfortunately names can not be moved or replaced.
Why is there a mixture of glass and stainless steel?
The glass walls were introduced as the final stage of the Welcome Walls project to help integrate all three stages with the design of the building, which has large expanses of glass.
New technology enabled the use of glass to be trialed as a way of making the panels easier to read over time. The use of glass on the perimeter of the walls provides better visibility to the internal area and over the port.
The new stainless steel walls are difficult to read in the shade, what is being done to address this?
The Museum has identified this as an issue and has begun applying a darker paint infill to make the names easier to read.
Why can’t I have a picture of the ship I came on?
The Museum does not own copyright images of all ships and was only able to secure the most popular ships that entered the Fremantle Port.
How do I buy a Welcome Walls memento certificate?
Memento certificates are available to can be purchased through the Museum shop. Please telephone 9431 8353, email wamshop@museum.wa.gov.au or purchase through the online shop at the Museum website www.museum.wa.gov.au
How do I buy a copy of the hard cover book We Came by Sea?
Copies of We Came by Sea are available at the Museum’s shops, including the one here at the WA Museum Maritime and can be purchased through the online shop at the Museum website www.museum.wa.gov.au
Can you put me into contact with a Welcome Walls registrant?
We occasionally receive emails or telephone calls from people who have looked at the Welcome Walls database and have come across a name they think they know. Because the Museum is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia, we can not give out any information supplied by registrants without their express permission however we can either contact the registrant and let them know someone is interested in receiving their contact details; or forward the contact details of the person requesting information to the registrant.
Do you have photographs or more information about my family?
Unfortunately the WA Museum does not hold a detailed digital collection of images specifically relating to migrant arrivals and we can’t assist you in researching your family history.
Listed below are organisations in Western Australia that can help you in your research.
State Library of Western Australia - 9427 3111
State Records Office of Western Australia - 9427 3360
National Archives of Australia - 9470 7500
Western Australian Genealogical Society - 9271 4311
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