Kimberley stockman in class action tells Federal Court 'we didn't get any money' for wages

Mervyn Street, a Gooniyandi traditional owner, is the lead applicant in the Federal Court case. (ABC Kimberley: Stephanie Sinclair)

Gooniyandi man Meryvn Street cannot recall exactly how old he was when he began working alongside his father in the cattle mustering camps in the central Kimberley.

But the 72-year-old said he "was very young" when he began work at Louisa Downs Station where his family lived in the 1950s and '60s.

"I was asking my mum and dad that I'd like to go out working, mustering, and riding horses," he said.

While Mr Street recalls with pride and fondness his effort in building the cattle industry on a country he loves, it was not until he was aged in his 30s that he got a monetary wage.

His father received no money at all for decades worth of work.

Aboriginal children branding a calf at Moola Bulla Station in Western Australia's Kimberley in the 1910s. (Supplied: State Library of Western Australia)

Mr Street is the lead applicant in a class action against the Western Australian state government to recoup wages that were allegedly never paid to station workers, domestic staff, and labourers.

Up to 75 per cent of a First Nations people's wages could be withheld by an employer under state policies which were not overturned until 1972.

Mr Street was the first witness to give evidence to the Federal Court in the class action brought by Shine Lawyers.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 members have joined the action, which may also be resolved through scheduled mediation later this year.

The Adult Learning Centre in Fitzroy Crossing was transformed into a makeshift court chamber. (ABC Kimberley: Stephanie Sinclair)

The Federal Court is sitting in communities across the Kimberley over the next two weeks to hear accounts from about 30 witnesses on their alleged "stolen wages".

Justice Bernard Murphy was shown art Mr Street had painted of station life on Louisa Downs, including water troughs his father built and the ration shed where flour, tea, and sugar was doled out to workers.

Mr Street, now an award-winning artist, spent his first few years "in the bush" before his parents moved into Louisa Downs and described in detail the nature of his station work.

"We just got rations and credit," Mr Street explained outside court, a makeshift chamber inside the Fitzroy Crossing Adult Learning Centre.

"They were asking, 'Did you get pay to buy something from the store?'"

"We were all working — my mum, my father, my granny. I'm looking forward to getting some compensation."

He said he was pleased to be able to address the Federal Court.

"I really wanted to share my story. It's good to bring the story to the judge and the lawyer," he said.

"People can know why I'm here."