Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia (DKA) is a not-for-prof­it statu­to­ry cor­po­ra­tion of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, estab­lished in 2003 to facil­i­tate learn­ing, research, socioe­co­nom­ic devel­op­ment, and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty in Cen­tral Aus­tralia. DKA is com­mit­ted to devel­op­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to build a stronger and more con­nect­ed desert and remote Australia.

DKA is land­lord of the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct and its pri­ma­ry oper­a­tions include ful­fill­ing that respon­si­bil­i­ty, exe­cut­ing its strate­gic plan, and fos­ter­ing its two flag­ship projects: Codes 4 Life and the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy.

DKA proud­ly acknowl­edges the Arrernte peo­ple as the cus­to­di­ans and first knowl­edge hold­ers of the land on which the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct stands.

DKA works with the peo­ple, com­mu­ni­ties and organ­i­sa­tions of Cen­tral Aus­tralia who share our vision for a stronger remote Aus­tralia, to cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties and deliv­er projects of tan­gi­ble val­ue to the region. These projects are focused on:

• Pro­mot­ing pos­i­tive social change
• Cre­at­ing STEM oppor­tu­ni­ties, and sup­port­ing eco­nom­ic development
• Work­ing towards envi­ron­men­tal­ly sus­tain­able societies
• Iden­ti­fy­ing and deliv­er­ing on research oppor­tu­ni­ties of prac­ti­ca­ble value

In 2019 – 2021, DKA’s strate­gic plan is focused on: 

• The con­tin­ued devel­op­ment of the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct and the DKA Solar Centre
• Grow­ing the role of the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy as a self-sus­tain­ing enti­ty that forges part­ner­ships, builds on exist­ing knowl­edge and gen­er­ates new knowl­edge about renew­able energy
• Fos­ter­ing desert lead­er­ship by con­nect­ing peo­ple, knowl­edge and oppor­tu­ni­ties, sup­port­ing Abo­rig­i­nal enter­pris­es and employ­ment, incu­bat­ing inno­va­tion and devel­op­ing pro­grams such as Codes 4 Life that cre­ate pos­i­tive social change; and sup­port­ing strong gov­er­nance and organ­i­sa­tion­al practices
• Estab­lish­ing a Dig­i­tal Inno­va­tion Cen­tre with state-of-the-art resources, and work­ing to devel­op strong desert data gov­er­nance sys­tems, prac­tices and knowledge
• Acti­vat­ing the Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute to con­duct com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven, tar­get­ed research pro­grams in the areas of peo­ple, place and knowledge

Annu­al Reports

2020 — 2021

DKA’s achieve­ments in 2020 – 2021 are a cred­it to its ded­i­cat­ed board and its employ­ees. Over the past year, DKA has bol­stered its flag­ship pro­grams and core oper­a­tions to con­tribute to the socioe­co­nom­ic devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty of the desert.

We have:

• seen the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy forge ahead with activ­i­ties cru­cial to the deliv­ery of the Alice Springs Future Grid project
• strength­ened and expand­ed Codes 4 Life work­shop deliv­er­ies, by out­lin­ing strate­gic focus areas to sup­port a reju­ve­nat­ed approach; and through for­mal and infor­mal part­ner­ships with local organ­i­sa­tions work­ing towards pos­i­tive socio­cul­tur­al outcomes
• estab­lished the pilot pro­gram Codes 4 Life: Women, based on the cul­tur­al method­ol­o­gy of Codes 4 Life, to address and devel­op pre­ven­tion prac­tices against domes­tic, fam­i­ly and sex­u­al vio­lence in the North­ern Territory
• launched the DKAc­cel­er­a­tor to sup­port First Nations enter­pris­es in accel­er­at­ing the growth of their busi­ness through cul­tur­al­ly appro­pri­ate, respon­sive, and con­tex­tu­al support
• sus­tained our research activ­i­ties through applied research which has sup­port­ed the frame­work devel­op­ment and deliv­ery of DKA projects, includ­ing Codes 4 Life: Women and the DKAccelerator
• made mean­ing­ful con­tri­bu­tions to and par­tic­i­pat­ed in local events and activ­i­ties, ensur­ing DKA has had an active role in the community
• con­tin­ued to pro­mote the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct as a hub for knowl­edge shar­ing and col­lab­o­ra­tion, work­ing togeth­er with Precinct part­ners and local organ­i­sa­tions to host events and numer­ous visitors
  

View the 2020 — 2021 Annu­al Report

Pre­vi­ous Years

2019 — 2020 Annu­al Report

2018 — 2019 Annu­al Report

2017 — 2018 Annu­al Report

2016 — 2017 Annu­al Report

2015 — 2016 Annu­al Report

2014 — 2015 Annu­al Report

2013 — 2014 Annu­al Report

To request an annu­al report from anoth­er year, please email info@​dka.​com.​au.

Sus­tain­able Development

DKA endors­es the Unit­ed Nations Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals and recog­nis­es them as a blue­print to achieve a bet­ter and more sus­tain­able future for all.