As Australia's youngest and most diverse university, Charles Darwin is founded on 50 years of delivering tertiary education to the Northern Territory.

Formed through a merger between the Northern Territory University, Alice Springs-based Centralian College and the Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University offers a fresh approach to training, education and research and knowledge application. It aspires to be recognised internationally as a centre of excellence in Indigenous and cross cultural knowledge, tropical knowledge (relevant to the wet/dry tropics) and desert knowledge.

Location

Charles Darwin University is located in northern Australia, only a few hours flying time to most of Asia's cities. Our main campus is located in the beautiful tropical city of Darwin a friendly, modern and multicultural place. As the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin offers first class services and facilities to its residents and students.

Darwin city is serviced by air, road and rail links with other Australian cities and has an extensive network of bicycle and walking paths, a thriving restaurant culture, colourful outdoor markets and pristine National Parks, fishing, sailing and hiking sites all within close proximity.

The impressive Romanesque architecture and beautifullu Charles Darwin University's Casuarina campus is approximately 15km from the city centre. Situated in lush, tropical gardens, the campus is close to Casuarina beach and walking distance from Darwin's largest shopping precinct, Casuarina Shopping Centre.

Approximately 95,000 people, representing 75 different nationalities, live in Darwin and the city of Palmerston. The median age is 31 and a quarter of all residents identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

History

The University’s genesis came about with the introduction of the Territory’s first adult education classes in Darwin in 1951. Supervised study classes were provided for apprentices, as well as typing, shorthand, French and subjects for public service examinations.

As classes and enrolment grew, so did the administrative work. In June 1958, the South Australian Department of Education recommended the appointment of a full-time principal to the Adult Education Centre in Darwin and in 1959; the first institution offering post-secondary studies in the Northern Territory was born, with a total of 19 teachers and over 500 enrolments.

By late 1973, the number of students enrolled had increased to almost 6000. In 1974, Darwin Community College, built on the site of Charles Darwin University’s Casuarina campus opened as a multi-purpose, multi-level, post-secondary institution. Its brief was to maintain teaching as a first priority, while catering for a wide range of community needs - social, commercial and industrial.

In 1985, while the NT Government canvassed establishing a local university, the community college was renamed the Darwin Institute of Technology. This was joined by the University College of the Northern Territory, which opened in 1987 with 250 enrolled students.

The Commonwealth Government's decision in 1987 to replace the binary system of higher education with the Unified National System dramatically changed the future for the University College and the Darwin Institute of Technology. Now permitted to merge, the institutions joined to form the Northern Territory University in 1989.

In 2004, Alice Springs’ Centralian College joined with the Northern Territory University to become Charles Darwin University - the only Australian university to offer the full spectrum of education options from senior secondary through to Vocational Education Training (previously known as TAFE), undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs.