A Region with Potential

The Alice Springs region is a special place in which to live and do business. At the heart of Australia, it is famed for its Indigenous art, its proximity to tourism icon Uluru, the Flying Doctor Service, School of the Air, the annual Camel Cup, and a movie or two.

The town that was settled by explorers and pastoralists is still a rich pastoral region, with a growing horticultural sector. But Alice is also an important service and supply centre for miners and oil and gas explorers with its highly prospective, but largely unexplored minerals provinces that include uranium, vanadium, rare earths, gold, garnets and who knows what else.

Alice Springs is also a service town that attracts young professionals who want to contribute to Indigenous health, education and business enterprise: budding doctors, nurses and teachers who rub shoulders with tourists, the large contingent of defence personnel serving at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap and old time Centralians with their yarns of pioneering frontier days.

A new convention centre attracts events, concerts and international symposia. The town's new Desert Knowledge Precinct has become a centre of excellence for research into Indigenous knowledge systems and desert lifestyles, the town is a ‘solar city' and hosts a Centre for Appropriate Technology, and there is a range of tertiary education facilities.

'Alice' sits at the hub of Australia's air routes, has an international airport, and is the half-way point for road and rail transport between Adelaide, in the south, and Darwin, in the north of Australia. A former railhead, it is now a popular destination for tourists on the famous transcontinental Ghan passenger service.

Above all, Alice is home to a strong community spirit that welcomes newcomers. Its residents are proud of their town's strengths, and work together to create an environment and the infrastructure that support investment and a unique lifestyle. [read more]