‘No-one's really aware of where they are’: A case study of Indigenous student mobilities in Australia's northwest

Indigenous Australians have often been described as highly mobile people, particularly in historical and remote ‘wilderness’ contexts. To date though, very little research has examined the relationship between Indigenous temporary mobilities and formal education systems, which assume and require ‘settled’ residency practice. This paper situates one such analysis in the northern tourist town of Broome, Western Australia. It draws on both qualitative and quantitative data from educators and schools in and around the town to paint a detailed picture of Indigenous temporary mobilities as they relate to the formal school sector. It demonstrates that Indigenous temporary mobilities, though largely invisible to policy makers, occur frequently and require more intentional and informed responses. The paper concludes by discussing some locally practiced and/or imagined responses.

► In north Western Australia an unquantified portion of Indigenous children are highly mobile and largely disengaged from formal schooling.
► The mobility or ‘turnover’ rates of Indigenous students in the case-study region are generally extremely high.
► There is an incompatibility between the residency practices of many students, and school education delivery practices, in the region.
► Official data collection processes in Western Australia do not adequately capture student mobilities, engendering important educational policy silences.
► Effective engagement strategies avoid positioning either schools or mobile students as ‘the problem’.