Agency, contingency and census process

Table of Contents

Notes on the contributors

Abbreviations and acronyms

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Producing powerful numbers

The 2006 research project

Background

Aims of the 2006 research project

The Indigenous Enumeration Strategy in 2006: structures and processes

2. Preparing for the 2006 enumeration

Introduction

The sociopolitical context of the census

The Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey and the census

The Discrete Indigenous Communities Database

The training of the Census Field Officers for the census

The value of local knowledge

Imparting information: instruction and practical application

Persons Temporarily Absent

Logistics

Conclusion

3. A vast improvement in Alice Springs

Introduction

2001 remembered and developments since

Collecting in 2006

Reasons for improvement

Remaining issues

Tangentyere’s list

Conclusion

4. Mobility and its consequences in Arnhem Land

Introduction

Localities

Funerals: a major cause of mobility

The count, phase one: 6 July to 3 August

The burdens of literacy

Case one

Case two

The count, phase two: 3–7 August

Problems of definition: ‘usual resident’ and ‘visitor’

Case three

Case four

The wider political context

The count, phase three: 8–14 August

A Darwin interlude

The count, phase four: 20 September

The role of local organisations: a missed opportunity

5. Institutional constraints at Wadeye

Census preparation: the relationship between the community and the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Census preparation: engaging a local census team

Training

A small workforce and its consequences

Counting a mobile population

Persons temporarily absent

Conclusion

6. Logistical and boundary problems in Fitzroy Crossing

Getting started

Training, planning and preparation

Training

Managing the paperwork

The role of the Census Field Officer

The count

The effectiveness of having locals enumerating locals

Marra Worra Worra

The ‘visitor’ question

The style of the count

Issues specific to towns of the Fitzroy Crossing type

Conclusion

7. After the count and after the fact

The CFO debriefing

The post-count checking process at the Census Management Unit

Grooming the forms

The ‘persons temporarily absent’ problem

Some preliminary thoughts on tracking absent persons

Patterns of mobility and migration

Documentation after the fact

The Arnhem Land case-study area

Conclusion

8. The transformation of input into output

Introduction

The Indigenous Processing Team: a brief appraisal

Some global problems

Family coding: what is being coded, and why?

Occupation: CDEP and the invisible economy

Conclusion: the representation of Indigenous Australians in the census

9. Accommodating agency and contingency

The Interviewer Household Form: from data collection to data coding

Common themes

The role of the Census Field Officer

The role of the Community Coordinators and collector-interviewers

Logistics, mobility and the time-extended rolling count

Residents, visitors and ‘persons temporarily absent’

Suggestions for a new manner of engagement

The involvement of local organisations

Harnessing local knowledge more effectively

The mutual benefits of continual engagement

Keeping abreast of socio-demographic change

A new way of thinking

Postscript: the census and the construction of Indigenous identity

Appendix A. The 2006 Interviewer Household Form

Appendix B. Commentary on the 2006 Interviewer Household Form

Structure

Length

Sequencing

Formulaic and standardised responses

Content

The ‘resident’ versus ‘visitor’ problem

‘Persons temporarily absent’

‘Household’ and ‘family’ structure

Date of birth

Usual residence

Language

Religion

Number of babies ever born

Need for assistance

Education and training

Income and employment

Unpaid work, unpaid care and voluntary work

The keeping of information

References