Australia - Northern Territory

The Northern Territory (NT) is a vast area of Australia, with a very low population density and a significant proportion of the population living in remote areas. In area, the NT covers around one sixth of the Australian continent and is equivalent to the combined areas of France, Spain and Italy.

The NT office was established with a primary goal to provide services and opportunities to the Indigenous (Aboriginal) people, whom constitute approximately one quarter of the NT population, and make up 44% of Australia’s indigenous population who live in remote communities.

Aboriginal people are Australia’s first people, and represent a wide diversity of different cultures. However, Aboriginal people are also Australia’s most disadvantaged, with much lower levels of education, healthcare, employment, economic opportunity and life expectancy than the Australian average.

The NT office also works with non-indigenous people living in remote townships such as Alice Springs, where challenges for sustainable development include remoteness, isolation and the extreme climate. In this environment our work focuses on increasing community resilience, transitioning to more sustainable use of resources such as water and energy, and promoting increased local production of food and other services.