Batchelor Institute began in the late 1960s as a small annexe of Kormilda College, providing programs for Aboriginal teacher aides and assistants in community schools.
In 1974 Batchelor Institute moved to the Batchelor township. In 1982 the Institute commenced as a dual sector tertiary provider and since the 1980s has continuously built a focus on learning that is supportive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. A second campus was established in 1990 in Alice Springs. Between 1988 and 1999 the Institute was known as Batchelor College. In 1999 the current Batchelor Institute was established with an emphasis on Indigenous Australian ownership and governance of the Batchelor Institute Council. Since the Australian government higher education reforms of 2003 Batchelor Institute has been recognised and funded as a ‘National Institute’.
The Institute has two major campuses, one in Batchelor and the other in Alice Springs, backed up by a range of learning campuses across rural and remote Northern Territory.
In 2008 the Desert Peoples Centre (DPC) was established in Alice Springs in partnership with the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) as a mechanism to provide contemporary learning, skills and pathways appropriate to desert communities.
The Institute offers a range of courses aligned to employment opportunities in remote communities – from preparatory courses to VET certificates and diploma level courses, to higher education degrees, to postgraduate course work and research programs across three academic faculties and divisions.
In 2011 Batchelor Institute entered into a 3 year partnership with the Northern Territory Government with the key aim being to reinforce and expand upon a mutually productive and cooperative relationship that will result in lasting benefits to improve the economic and social outcomes of Indigenous Territorians.
Both Parties in this Partnership Agreement recognise the unique needs and opportunities that exist in this environment, and support a shared framework of understanding in addressing these needs and harnessing opportunities.
Also in 2011 Batchelor Institute entered a collaborative partnership with Charles Darwin University for the shared delivery of a specific range of Higher Education and Postgraduate study options which address the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Delivery of courses began in semester one of 2012.
The Institute is both a ‘Table A’ Higher Education provider and is one of two publicly funded tertiary education institutions in the Northern Territory. As such, it is supported by the Northern Territory and Australian Governments. It also draws income from a range of fee-for-service activities. Batchelor Institute operates in an increasingly competitive environment, responding to changing government policy and the increasingly complex demands of Industry.
