I think you are looking for something more along these lines:

my %hash_of_hashes;

while (<UNITFILES>) {

    my @unitfiles_field = split /,/;

    #this is just an autogen number
    my $record_no = $unitfiles_field[0];

    $hash_of_hashes{$record_no} = {
         lastname         => $unitfiles_field[1],
         firstname        => $unitfiles_field[2],
         DOB              => $unitfiles_field[7],
         funding          => $unitfiles_field[18],
         URNo             => $unitfiles_field[15],
         Photo_permission => $unitfiles_field[14],
                        };
} #end while
[download]

or as a Array of hashes:

my @Array_of_Hashes;

while (<UNITFILES>) {
    #this is just an autogen number

    my @unitfiles_field = split /,/;

    push @Array_of_Hashes, {
         record_number    => $unitfiles_field[0],
         lastname         => $unitfiles_field[1],
         firstname        => $unitfiles_field[2],
         DOB              => $unitfiles_field[7],
         funding          => $unitfiles_field[18],
         URNo             => $unitfiles_field[15],
         Photo_permission => $unitfiles_field[14],
                        };
} #end while
[download]

hope this helps

-enlil