The role of the CFO was absolutely pivotal in the success or otherwise of the 2006 Census. Indeed, it seems that the extent of responsibility placed on this individual in the whole process was a very risky strategy. There are a few elements to this burden that need to be unpacked. Firstly, the area to be covered by the CFO in question was significant. This vast area contains dozens of communities, some consisting only of a single family group, and some with highly variable occupancy. Obviously the CFO could not visit and coordinate all of these smaller places, so the approach was taken to engage with community-based organisations that provided services across the southern Kimberley. This engagement was, however, very informal and patchy. It involved the CFO having a chat with a councillor, chairman or administrator, identifying a CC, carrying out a morning’s training, dropping off forms and then returning to pick up forms a few weeks later. The patchiness of these interactions was not always the CFO’s fault: some of these organisation offices are not always staffed, so making contact by telephone to arrange a visit can be difficult. In addition, those community members trained to be CIs might not live in the community where the office is situated or might not have a telephone, and again, therefore, communication becomes problematic. In addition, the resources of these community-based organisations, and their staff, tend to be extremely overcommitted, and the lack of early engagement with these bodies meant that the census—and the requests to the CFO for assistance—was not always given priority.

In order to cover the ground he needed to cover, the CFO estimated that he was spending 50 per cent of his time driving.^[6] In my observation, the time he spent in any given community was highly variable. While some communities received only a morning’s training, in others the CFO was present for a week or two, because he had to help with the count itself. Therefore, he had no capacity to monitor what was happening anywhere except where he was on the day, or to provide CIs or CCs with any support, should they need it. That is, he had responsibility for everything, but no capacity to be responsible across the entire area. While he did have a satellite phone, he checked messages only in the evening. Very few members of his ‘team’ across the southern Kimberley, however, had a phone number to leave for him to get back to them.

That he had to return regularly to Broome to pick up supplies—extra IHFs, hats, satchels and so forth—added enormously to his time on the road. Having a base where materials could be stored, and perhaps an administrative assistant in Fitzroy Crossing, would have freed him up enormously. As it stood, once the training was completed, it was never quite clear when the CFO might be returning to Fitzroy Crossing. There were no other contacts given to the census workers for ABS staff in the Perth CMU, so if they had any questions, or needs such as more forms, there was no option but to attempt to contact the CFO. As noted above, this process was by no means straightforward.