As households across the country prepare for the upcoming 2026 Census, regional mining communities are raising urgent concerns that the national count will fail to capture the true scale of Australia's fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workforce.

Local leaders warn that undercounting these transient populations—often referred to as "ghost populations"—leads to severe funding shortfalls for critical local infrastructure that is already buckling under the weight of resource booms.

A Boom Overburdening Local Services

In the historic gold-mining city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, located 600 kilometres east of Perth, the economic expansion is unprecedented. The surge in activity has transformed the local airport into one of the busiest regional hubs in Western Australia, logging a record 562,710 passenger movements in the 12 months leading up to June 30—more than five times the capacity it was originally built to handle in the early 1990s.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson, who also chairs the Australian Mining Cities Alliance, has been actively lobbying the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in Canberra to address the data gap. The alliance represents major mining councils across Australia, including the City of Broken Hill, City of Karratha, Mount Isa City Council, Isaac Regional Council, and the Shire of East Pilbara.

"We have a baseline resident population, but with intense mining activities, those numbers swell, placing a massive extra strain on our infrastructure and services," Mayor Wilson said. He estimates there are currently up to 10,000 FIFO workers operating in the area, pointing to a severe shortage of rental properties and homes for sale as evidence of a much larger local footprint than official figures suggest.

"If the census data comes back and tells us our population is declining, there is a fundamental issue with how the data is gathered," Wilson added. "State and federal funding opportunities rely entirely on up-to-date population figures. It's as simple as that."

The Multiplier Effect on Infrastructure

The issue is equally acute in WA’s iron ore heartland of the Pilbara. In towns like Newman, local infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the uncounted workforce.

Daiva Gillam, chief executive of Regional Development Australia Pilbara, highlighted the financial toll this discrepancy takes on local governments. She pointed out that the Shire of East Pilbara is currently forced to spend over $50 million of its own funds to upgrade the Newman wastewater treatment plant because of the massive volume of uncounted users.

"For every permanent resident living in Newman, there are up to three FIFO workers flushing the toilet," Gillam explained. "The infrastructure simply isn't built to cope with that demand, but because those workers aren't officially counted as Pilbara residents, we don't get the funding to support it."

Where Do You Belong?

For many FIFO workers, deciding where they "live" on a census form is more than just a matter of numbers. Robert Powell, who works a two-and-one roster in Port Hedland but spends his week off at his home in Perth, plans to list Perth as his primary residence.

"Home is home, work is work, and the census should reflect that," Powell said. "It's no different to living in one suburb and commuting to another for work. Where I live permanently is where I want my tax-funded services to be provided."

Organisational psychiatrist Cheryl Yam suggests the census pose an existential question for FIFO workers. "The question isn't simply 'where do I sleep most nights?' It's 'where do I belong?'" she said. "A mining camp is more than a workplace, but it rarely feels like home."

The Official Count

The ABS acknowledges that capturing highly mobile workforces is a complex challenge, comparing FIFO workers to seasonal agricultural labourers.

Census representatives have confirmed that dedicated teams are working directly with mining companies and accommodation camps to ensure workers fill out their forms correctly. According to official guidelines, the census uses the concept of "usual residence" to define where a person lives. Anyone spending more than six months of the year at a work location is expected to list that location as their primary residence.

While officials urge workers to comply with the six-month rule to help regional communities secure accurate funding, local leaders remain skeptical. The true success of these counting measures will not be known until the official census data is released in mid-2027.