The Territory Government has launched the Northern Territory Advanced Manufacturing Ecosystem Fund (AMEF).

The AMEF will accelerate the creation of advanced manufacturing businesses, increase competitiveness and capabilities across the Territory and drive future-focused industry development.

Advanced manufacturing uses gas as a low carbon energy source to create products such as fertilisers, explosives, paper, plastics and chemicals for everyday products such as bricks, mobile phones, medicines and prosthesis.

Charles Darwin University has partnered with SPEE3D to form the Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, a joint initiative to utilise a world-first 3D metal printing technology.

As part of its economic planning, the NT Government is exploring the concept of a circular economy and its potential to play a key role in building the Territory’s economy. The circular economy approach acknowledges and seeks to minimise the environmental, social, cultural and health impacts that are commonly associated with modern economies.

Climate change impacts are already being experienced across the Territory. Over the last century, annual average temperatures across the Territory have increased by 0.5°C in the west and 2.2°C in the south-east. There has been a significant increase in the number of extremely hot days, in both the Top End and central Australia.
Climate modelling indicates that these trends will continue. While average rainfall has remained fairly consistent in the southern parts of the Territory, it has increased in the Top End. Higher sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification pose significant threats to the marine environment.

By 2030, 50% of total electricity used by consumers connected to the Territory’s power grids will be supplied through renewable energy sources. The Territory has the capacity to generate more solar energy than it requires. This opportunity can be harnessed to deliver net zero emission and low-cost electricity to major industrial consumers, establishing a critical global competitive advantage.

The Territory Government has partnered with the CSIRO, the Australian Government and the City of Darwin to establish the Darwin Living Lab. This 10-year initiative aims to identify measurable improvements in the city’s liveability, sustainability and resilience through testing and evaluating heat mitigation measures. It will inform tropical urban design for Darwin and other tropical centres.

From awe-inspiring rock art dating back thousands of years to today’s contemporary arts offerings across visual and performing arts, music and textiles, architecture and screen, the Territory has always been a hub of creativity and innovation.

With our home and our heart in the Northern Territory, we embrace the inclusive, resilient, and courageous spirit of the NT in our campuses and delivery sites that space a diverse footprint from the capital cities of Darwin, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney to the regional hubs of Alice Springs, Palmerston and Katherine and our remote locations in Jabiru, Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek and Yulara, and on Country – in community, with the community.

Due to our location, we are in an enviable position to contribute to the future opportunity of Northern Australia, and our neighbours in the Asia Pacific, through our innovative and impactful training, education, and research.

We are a deeply connected university, working in partnership and collaboration with First Nations peoples, our communities and industries, government, and alumni to address the needs of the Northern Territory and regional, rural, and remote people nationally and globally.

The Northern Territory is land-rich with access to significant water resources and a reputation for high quality products in the agriculture, forestry and fishing (including aquaculture) industries. Cattle are the Northern Territory’s major agribusiness commodity by production and export value. Other commodities include buffalo, crocodile, fish, crustaceans, pearls and horticultural goods (such as mangoes, melons and vegetables).

We are focused on improving health service delivery in our communities by harnessing digital health technologies to redesign services and models of care to be closer to home. We want to reduce duplication, maximise the use of technology and strengthen the power of partnerships to ultimately build healthier communities.

Leveraging and expanding digital health technologies, will support our quest in preventing illness, reducing the burden of chronic disease management, promoting wellbeing and enabling our communities to live a healthy and productive life across their whole lifetime.

Is Australia’s housing crisis self-inflicted? If so, then we need a series of reforms to reverse it
The best long-term solution to the structural problems of the rental crisis is to build more public and/or affordable housing.

Make renting more Sustainable. Increase rent assistance or look at rental caps, similar to countries in Europe and some US states, long term tenancy agreements with incentives for all parties to the agreement.

Build to Rent
The Build to Rent property sector is growing in Australia – this new class of housing is focused on providing high quality purpose designed and built rental stock, creating an additional housing choice for Australian renters with greater security and service.

Build to Rent developments are typically owned by institutional investors for the long term and the owner could be the developer/ongoing building manager. The format provides tenants with the flexibility of renting with the security of home ownership.

Build-to-Rent developments are usually large-scale residential properties specifically designed, built and managed for long-term ownership and rental.

Social Housing
In the 40 years between 1981 and 2021 the percentage of all Australian households living in social housing (i.e. state owned and managed public housing or community managed housing) has ranged from 4.9 per cent in 1981 to 3.8 per cent in 2021. Such a drop in the proportion of social housing raises the question of has Australia achieved the balance right, and also just what is the right level of social housing for Australia?

In 2018 Statistics Canada said 628,700 Canadian households, more than one in ten renter households nationally (13.5% of 4,652,500), were living in social and affordable housing.
In New Zealand, as of 30 June 2021, there were 74,337 public housing households. This equates to 4.0% of households living in social housing.

In England (in 2018) 17% of households (3.9 million) lived in social housing, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes that 1.2 million households live in public housing, which is 0.98 per cent of all housing.

There are seven major operating mines in the Northern Territory producing gold, bauxite, manganese, silver, lead and zinc. The Northern Territory has tremendous potential for the discovery and development of further major mineral deposits.

• Tanami Operations - Newmont (gold)
• McArthur River mine - Glencore PLC (zinc-lead-silver)
• Groote Eylandt mine - South32 Ltd (manganese)
• Gove mine - Rio Tinto (bauxite)
• Finniss lithium mine - Core Lithium Ltd (lithium)
• Peko Tailings - Elmore Ltd (magnetite)

Northern Australia is strategically significant in the national security and defence network. Defence activities in the Northern Territory include the traditional role of sovereign protection and, importantly, the more contemporary role of providing assistance in times of natural and humanitarian disaster. This latter role is assisting to strengthen ties with our closest neighbours in maintaining regional security.

The Northern Territory is home to the majority of Australia’s Abrams tanks, Tiger helicopters and Armidale class patrol boats, as well as a squadron of F/A18 fighters and a significant proportion of field vehicles. This provides technical support, maintenance and facilities management opportunities. For example, more than 100 small and medium sized local businesses support the maintenance of Armidale class patrol boats.

The RAAF base at Tindal near Katherine and the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (Australia/United States) near Alice Springs are key contributors to those regional economies. The Northern Territory hosted 1150 US Marines in 2014 and this will increase in coming years.

Nature-based and cultural tourism are key drawcards for holiday visitors to the Northern Territory, with extensive park networks, strong Indigenous culture and a rich sense of history and heritage based on our pioneering, World War II, pastoral and multicultural origins. Other activities including business events and cruises are of increasing importance.

The World Heritage-listed Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta national parks are key visitor attractions, with a further 90 parks and reserves (including Watarrka, Litchfield, Nitmiluk and West MacDonnell Ranges) providing a broad range of nature-based experiences.