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

2019 — 2020

DKA’s achieve­ments in 2019 – 2020 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:

• strength­ened for­mal and infor­mal part­ner­ships with organ­i­sa­tions that share our vision and goals, as well as our rela­tion­ships with on-site organ­i­sa­tions at the Precinct
• seen the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy secure an addi­tion­al $9m in exter­nal fund­ing cru­cial to the deliv­ery of the Alice Springs Future Grid project
• expand­ed Codes 4 Life pro­gram deliv­er­ies; improved under­stand­ing about Abo­rig­i­nal men’s well­be­ing though a focused pres­ence at tar­get­ed loca­tions; and assist­ed with the dis­sem­i­na­tion of impor­tant infor­ma­tion in com­mu­ni­ty lan­guages dur­ing COVID-19 restric­tions in the NT
• suc­cess­ful­ly secured fund­ing from Ter­ri­to­ry Fam­i­lies to devel­op a pilot pro­gram for pre­ven­tion prac­tices against domes­tic, fam­i­ly and sex­u­al vio­lence, and bol­stered our com­mu­ni­ty-focused operations
• expand­ed the role and pres­ence of the Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute, gain­ing momen­tum with projects of prac­ti­ca­ble val­ue to Cen­tral Aus­tralia, with a focus on essen­tial needs in remote communities
• host­ed numer­ous events and hun­dreds of vis­i­tors at the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct, renew­ing its posi­tion as a hub for knowl­edge shar­ing and com­mu­ni­ty-focused collaboration

View the 2019 – 2020 Annu­al Report

Pre­vi­ous Years

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.