The early years at Bonegilla were the hardest for families, as husbands and wives, sometimes with children, were separated just as they had been on the boats travelling to Australia.
In time, authorities partitioned the long dormitory huts into smaller rooms to better accommodate married couples and families.
While the huts were small, unlined walls thin, and the wire-gate beds hard, parents did their best to make their accommodation homely.
Initially, when families were allocated extra rooms they were upset to find each room opened externally with no interconnecting doors.
As the Centre improved so did the facilities for families and children. The crèche and pre-schools helped to assimilate mothers. Functions were also held to bring mothers together.
Lake Hume provided leisure activities for families such as swimming, boating, fishing, and picnicking. People enjoyed walks in the countryside and young men and boys enjoyed rabbiting.
Family experiences at Bonegilla were varied and memories good and bad. However, many migrants were shocked by the basic conditions of the Centre and then further traumatised by being separated for work.
Bonegilla was a place that people escaped, endured, or enjoyed.
Twenty per cent of migrants who came to Australia during the years Bonegilla operated, subsequently returned to their countries of origin.