Fitzroy Crossing is a major service centre in the central western Kimberley. The nearest towns are Derby, 250 kilometres to the west, and Halls Creek, 290 kilometres to the east (see Figure 6.1). The majority of residents in Fitzroy Crossing are Indigenous, and there are a significant number of Indigenous-run non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Marra Worra Worra (MWW) and Bunuba Inc., which, at the time of the census, were funded by the Western Australian and Commonwealth governments to service town-based Indigenous communities and outstations.

There are also a large number of non-Indigenous residents: about 45 per cent, according to the 2001 Census. Many of these non-Indigenous people work in service industries—health, education, administration and the like—as well as in various trades. Because Fitzroy Crossing is a town that services surrounding communities and pastoral stations in an area known as the Fitzroy Valley (estimated population 3500), there is much movement into and out of the town. In a sense, therefore, the ‘population’ of the town is rather unstable, and fluctuates seasonally and on the basis of various events such as festivals or funerals.

In addition, the Indigenous population of Fitzroy Crossing internally contains significant linguistic and cultural diversity. There are five major language groups resident in the town—Walmajarri, Wangkatjunga, Gooniyandi, Nyikina and Bunuba—as well as others, such as Djaru and Mangala. Bunuba are the traditional owners for the country on which Fitzroy Crossing sits. They have been associated with Bunuba Inc. since 1999, and before that with Junjuwa Community Inc. MWW has historically looked after the interests of non-Bunuba language groups in the town and on outstations and communities throughout the Fitzroy Valley.

While the brief of this research was to observe the effectiveness of the Indigenous Enumeration Strategy (IES) in capturing Indigenous residents in the town of Fitzroy Crossing, the ‘mixed-up’ nature of sections of the town meant I inevitably crossed paths with the mainstream, non-Indigenous count and collectors.

In its analysis of census data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) separates out three ‘discrete Indigenous communities’ from the Fitzroy Crossing data: Junjuwa, Kurnangki and Mindi Rardi. In these areas of the town, the non-Indigenous population sits at less than 1 per cent of the total. For these areas, applying the IES would be predicted to be fairly unproblematic. Many other parts of the town—considered as distinct communities by their residents—are also enumerated under the IES. These are not separated out in the ABS’s analysis but are incorporated into the ‘discrete Indigenous communities’ already mentioned, probably because their populations are too small. These include Burawa, Bungardi, Darlngunaya and Loanbung.

It is also noteworthy that the communities in which the IES is applied are characterised by their particular leases—mostly Aboriginal Lands Trust (ALT) reserves—which means that their municipal services, housing and so forth are managed by an Indigenous organisation, rather than by the local Derby/West Kimberley Shire. In Fitzroy Crossing, the two organisations in question are Bunuba Inc., which services Junjuwa, Burawa, Bungardi and Darlngunaya, as well as other outstations on the pastoral leases of Leopold Downs, and MWW, which services Kurnangki, Mindi Rardi and Loanbung in town, but also looks after 30 or so other communities throughout the Fitzroy Valley. These two organisations represent the primary point of articulation for outside interests wishing to engage with these Indigenous communities. As such, their role is vital in achieving community interest in the process and in providing resources including storage space, transport for census workers and other forms of support to ensure the census rolls out smoothly.

Those Indigenous people not living in the communities described above—that is, living in parts of town that were not on ALT leases or reserves—were enumerated along with the non-Indigenous population. These parts of the town included the town site itself, other peripheral areas around the town, such as blocks on either side of the river to the town’s north, and an area adjacent to the school. Some of the houses in these areas are privately owned or rented; others are houses owned by local NGOs, which are leased to other such organisations for their staff. In the town itself, there are two streets in particular that are for public housing, and many local Aboriginal families live in this part of the town. According to the Western Australian Department of Housing and Works Derby office, there were at least 35 Aboriginal families living in this public housing at the time of the 2006 Census—that is, 35 separate households. This figure was the minimum number of Indigenous households that were enumerated with the mainstream, but the figure was likely to be higher, especially because of the number of houses that were owned by local Indigenous corporations, and that were likely to have had Indigenous families living in them.

This study differs, then, from the other three reported on in this monograph on two fronts. First, because of the nature of Fitzroy Crossing, the IES and the mainstream approach literally bumped against one another, sometimes overlapping and sometimes not meeting up and hence leaving gaps. Second, unlike in the Northern Territory, the approach throughout Western Australia was to attempt to complete the Indigenous count in the week of 7–11 August, with a three-week mop-up period. As will become apparent, by the end of the count, it was looking more like a time-extended, rolling count than a standard one. The Fitzroy Crossing study is nevertheless comparable with the others across the various aspects of the count, such as the workability of the household forms, the approach to staffing and training, the role of the Census Field Officer (CFO) and so forth.