More than 1250 businesses across nine outback regions in Australia are members of Desert Knowledge Australia Outback Business Networks. Members have cited benefits such as broadened customer bases, access to new clients, increased market share, professional development opportunities, and collaborative marketing. For example, 19 remote pastoral tourism operators in South Australia have created the Station Stays SA cluster to jointly market their businesses online and through other collaborative efforts, growing their individual operations.

1. More than 1250 businesses across nine outback regions in five states are members of Desert
Knowledge Australia Outback Business Networks (OBN). Cited benefits of the cross-regional
networks include – a broadened customer base, access to new clients, increased market
share, professional development particularly in the area of communication technology –
and collaborative marketing opportunities.
Case Study: Station Stays SA
The need to get together to share ideas and discuss issues has led to a new
collaborative business marketing opportunity for remote outback pastoral
tourism operators in South Australia. Working across regions in the far north of
SA, operators have created the Station Stays SA, Flinders Ranges and Outback
Cluster.
They are now looking at building this cluster further through linking up with
similar organisations such as Outback Beds in NSW and Bush Beds in WA. ‘Station Stays is a winner.
Outback Business Networks is facilitating these discussions. I’m increasingly confident
that the pastoral tourism
Individually these businesses did not have the capacity to market themselves network is a great asset to
effectively nor seek professional development support. Tourism was seen as an
us as a point of difference.’
opportunity to diversify from their primary production enterprises to provide
additional income and business resilience during pastoral industry downturns.
Peter Calahan, Regional
Operations are primarily family run and resource poor in terms of time and staff.
Tourism Manager, Flinders
Ranges and Outback.
From an initial meeting facilitated by OBN in 2009, attended by 13 operators, the
cluster has grown to 19 active business participants across an area of more than
10,000 square kilometres. Participants have pooled marketing resources to achieve more national and international
exposure through a website at www.stationstayssa.com.au and other collaborative marketing material.
Case Study: Overlander’s Way
Clustering by eight shires and nine Visitor Information Centres along the Overlander’s Way highway, connecting
Townsville to Tennant Creek, has created new wealth opportunities for small towns that would otherwise miss out on
major tourism dollars. It has also won industry accolades for its partners in the Outback Queensland Tourism Awards.
Established more than 10 years ago, the partners in the cluster, which shares a common link to the highway, saw that
by working together to promote the route as a collective tourism experience, they would be able to compete with
major stand- alone tourism attractions elsewhere.
Desert Knowledge Australia Outback Business Networks took the idea further. Coming on board in 2010, OBN facilitated
discussions that saw the cluster develop from a state-centric project to become a national leader in cross-border
collaboration by bringing in Tennant Creek in the NT as a pivotal partner.
Today the 1550 km route is marketed as one of the great tourist drives in Australia, linking the wonders of the World
Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef to the rugged Aussie Outback.
Partners in the cluster believe their marketing efforts – including website, television, signage and WiFi strategies –
will lead to a 30% increase in traveller numbers recorded at Visitor Information Centres over the next 12 months and
subsequent flow on to local businesses.

2. Case Study: Yamatji Aboriginal Contractors Association
Outback Business Networks is facilitating the formation of the
Yamatji Aboriginal Contractors Association (YACA), consisting
of seven members across the Yamatji region, in the Mid West
Gascoyne region of Western Australia.
The objective of YACA is to create a membership based
organisation that develops and nurtures business opportunities
for Indigenous entrepreneurs. The stakeholders themselves are
shaping the development process. Good communication, cultural
sensitivity and good planning are vital in these early stages.
The formation of the cluster will make it easier for companies
and government to conduct business by providing a direct portal
to Aboriginal businesses and contractors in the Mid West region.
OBN recently arranged a presentation of the members to the Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance, with the immediate result of
a contract for one of the members.
With the assistance of OBN, YACA members are now seeking funding for the next steps, including assessing options
such as formation of a legal entity as an association, developing a business plan and constitution, marketing their
services and seeking new members.
Case Study: Art of Business
A rare opportunity for professional advice on how to turn an arts-based
hobby into a business attracted 26 participants representing 18 remote
and regional businesses to an Art of Business seminar in Alice Springs in
November 2011.
Forty percent of the participants were Indigenous and many had travelled
hundreds of kilometres to attend the day-long seminar, which was
organised through OBN. The presenter was internationally renowned artist
Jill Yelland. The training included marketing, promotion and structuring a
small business to create a foundation for business survival.
OBN partnered with Alice Springs based craft organisation Central Craft to
promote and host the event.
‘The day was a huge success. Seminar participants have asked to be kept informed of further professional
Jill was an inspiration, she had development support opportunities. OBN will facilitate this by creating an
much knowledge to pass on, opportunity for an on-line cluster using the Desert Knowledge Commons.
and it was great to re-connect
and meet a lot of our existing
and new members. I look
forward to continuing to work For more information call 1800 603 866
with Outback Business Networks
Aboriginals Benefit
Account
www.desertknowledge.com.au