The origin of Charles Darwin University (CDU) can be traced back to 1989 when the territory's first university, the Northern Territory University, was established. It was the first dual-sector university in Australia that provided higher education as well as vocational training. In 2003, Charles Darwin University was formed under an act of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly by merging the Northern Territory University, the Northern Territory Rural College in Katherine, and Centralian College in Alice Springs, in collaboration with the Menzies School of Health Research. Currently, the university holds the membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) and the Innovative Research Universities (IRU).
CDU has five campuses and three training centers across Australia. Located in Darwin's northern suburbs, Casuarina is CDU's largest campus. It is the main hub for Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training (VET), and Research programs. The campus offers numerous first-rate facilities like a huge library, wellness center, gym, bookshop, post office, comfortable accommodation, childcare services, and several cafes.
The Alice Spring campus is a major educational hub catering for domestic and international students in the town and in Central Australia’s remote communities. It houses a modern 85-seat lecture theatre, specialist IT classrooms, a clinical training laboratory for nursing, and a science laboratory for Higher Education. The Palmerston campus is situated near Palmerston city center and houses several VET business units and a modern library. The Katherine campus has two sites; Katherine Town Centre and Katherine rural campus. It provides excellent conference and accommodation facilities. The Sydney campus offers state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities, small class sizes, and easy access to teaching staff to ensure the best academic results possible.
