Census

Alice Springs has more surviving census
records than other parts of the Northern
Territory [View towards Heavy Tree Gap,
State Library of Western Australia,
022670PD]

The first population counts in Australia were known as musters and were held in the earliest years of European settlement. They were conducted as a means of controlling the convict population and determining how much food was required for the colony.

In later years, regular official census counts were conducted by the various colonial governments with the first national census being held in April 1911. However, once the statistical information had been extracted, in most cases the personal information was discarded. Because of this you need to consider using alternative sources such as electoral rolls and directories.

Census history
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has some interesting articles on the history of census taking in Australia.

Listed below is a table showing those censuses containing personal information which are available for the Northern Territory.