Dermatoglyphic characters were studied in a sample of 112 pairs of mothers and daughters from families of European descent, living in Adelaide for at least the last two generations. For comparison, a sample of 64 women from Surabaya, East Java were also studied. Descriptive statistics for digital pattern frequencies, total ridge count (TRC), mean ridge count (MRC), absolute ridge count (ARC), atd angle, ab ridge count, mainline terminations and mainline indices were given for each sample. Mother-daughter correlations gave estimates of heritability values from 0.65 for TRC, to 0.20 for atd angle. Correlations between antimeres were used to assess fluctuating asymmetry and to produce independent estimates of heritability, on the assumption that two hands of the same individual share the same genetic information, but may be somewhat different in their exposure to environmental conditions during their development. Heritability estimates produced from antimeric correlations were similar in magnitude to those obtained from correlations between relatives. Results of this study were compared with those of Singh (1969) who studied Australians of European ancestry in New South Wales. No secular trend in averages of quantitative characteristics between Singh's (1969) samples and mothers and daughters were found, nor was there any substantial change in digital pattern frequencies. Australian samples were different from the Surabayan sample in the quantitative characters. It was also found, that there is increasing variability between generations. Variances of dermatoglyphic characters were also significantly larger in the Australian sample, than in the Surabayan sample. Partitioning of variance of dermatoglyphic characters indicated little intergenerational change in genetic polymorphism, but a significant and substantial increase in environmentally induced variation. This variation was also ?larger in Adelaide women, than in the Surabayan sample. It seems that present day Australian women display substantially increased levels of fluctuating asymmetry, probably induced by the intra-uterine environment during the first trimester of pregnancy. This can be suggested to result from the effects of teratogenic agents, such as alcohol in the first weeks of pregnancy when the women may not yet be aware that they have conceived. Further studies are needed to test this suggestion.