'The Intellectual Boys are the Ones in a Mess': The Unregistered Doctors Association in Victoria, 1951-56

Abstract

Australia accepted over 170,000 Displaced Persons (DPs) after World War II, the majority of whom were unskilled or semi-skilled workers. However, professionally qualifi ed DPs faced particularly challenging resettlement terms because their qualifi cations were often not recognised by local authorities. With the exception of Egon Kunz’s The Intruders: Refugee Doctors in Australia (1975), very little has been written about DPs with medical qualifi cations. Among these were individuals who mobilised to form the Unregistered Doctors Association (UDA) in Victoria—a cross-cultural migrant group that lobbied to liberalise state medical legislation in the early 1950s. The story of the UDA highlights..