This paper presents a case study of an exercise in Aboriginal community governance. It sets out the background events that led one native title body corporate to secure information for its own needs as an act of self-determination and essential governance, and it presents some of the key findings from that exercise. As the Indigenous rights agenda shifts from the pursuit of restitution to the management and implementation of benefits, those with proprietary rights are finding it increasingly necessary to build internal capacity for post-native title governance and community planning, including in the area of information retrieval and application. As an incorporated land-holding group, the Yawuru people of Broome are amongst the first in Australia to move in this area of self-administered information gathering, certainly in terms of the degree of local control, participation and conceptual thinking around the logistics and rationale for such an exercise. In launching and administering the ‘Knowing our Community’ household survey in Broome, the Yawuru have set a precedent in the acquisition of vital demographic information for internal planning purposes.