This monograph had its genesis in discussions held over many years between CAEPR researchers and the ABS regarding the capacity of census data to adequately and accurately represent the distinctiveness of Indigenous social, cultural and economic life in its many varied forms. Initial discussions surrounded the correct interpretation of census characteristics in situations where these fail to capture the on-the-ground reality of Indigenous circumstances. Other discussions concerned the adequacy of census counts in remote areas following the publication of a CAEPR Discussion Paper by David Martin and John Taylor illustrating discrepancies in enumeration at Aurukun community on remote Cape York Peninsula. More recently, and following on from that paper, the idea of using CAEPR researchers (who were to be in the field at the time of the 2001 enumeration) as official observers of the census in select communities was raised with the ABS. As the case studies in this monograph testify, this plan was supported and subsequently brought to fruition.

This is not the first time that CAEPR and the ABS have collaborated to produce research of importance to national Indigenous policy development. In 1992, current CAEPR Associate and former CAEPR colleague, Anne Daly, was the recipient of an ABS fellowship which resulted in a landmark study of the labour market status of Indigenous people. In 1996, Boyd Hunter and John Taylor collaborated with the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics to produce a joint ABS/CAEPR publication on employment outcomes for Indigenous people using data from the 1994 NATSIS. Boyd Hunter is also the recent recipient of an ABS fellowship under the Australian Census Analytic Program. In addition, several CAEPR staff assisted in the development of the NATSIS as members of Technical Reference Groups, and John Taylor is currently a member of the committee overseeing development of the Indigenous Social Survey. Over the years, ABS staff have participated in CAEPR workshops on employment equity, housing need, and the development (1992) and then analysis (1996) of NATSIS data.

In all of these activities, the ABS has displayed an interest in, and a commitment to, productive collaborations with CAEPR researchers. From CAEPR’s perspective, the ABS provides statistical expertise, ready access to published and unpublished data, and, most importantly, insight into the methodological and bureaucratic processes that lead to official data collection. From the ABS perspective, CAEPR provides an interpretive and analytical capacity which is informed by ethnographic understanding, social sciences theory and methods, and familiarity with the social and economic realities of daily life in Indigenous communities. Together, these provide a powerful (and essential) means towards improving the quality of statistical information that is of fundamental importance to the development of effective and appropriate Indigenous social policy.

Professor Jon Altman

CAEPR

August 2002