Life in Australia: Geraldton (restored in glorious 4K) captures daily life in a growing coastal town on the shores of the Indian Ocean during the 1960s. Produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit for the Department of Immigration, the film promotes Geraldton as a prosperous regional hub and key supply centre for northern Western Australia – poised between sea and land, tradition and modern development.

This is the sort of town where a fuelling agent and storekeeper is also the mayor. Through the lives of local families, workers and civic leaders, the film showcases Geraldton’s rapid growth: from a population of 7 in 1850 to over 12,000 by the mid-1960s. Schools, hospitals, housing developments and civic projects frame the town as modern and family-friendly, while industries like cray fishing, farming, shipping and building drive its economic future. Geraldton’s beaches, sports facilities, and community theatres round out the picture of a lively, welcoming town.

The Life in Australia films (1964–66) were designed as glossy promotion for migration. They promised comfort and prosperity, but with limits: gender roles are rigid, First Nations people are absent, and inclusiveness was not part of the story. Produced in the final years of the White Australia Policy, the films closely predate the landmark 1967 Referendum. Today, they stand as vivid time capsules – revealing both the optimism and the blind spots in how Australia wanted to be seen on the world stage.

Find out more about the Life in Australia series