Situated to the east of Darwin in the far Northern Territory, Palmerston is a planned satellite city and one of Australia’s fastest growing. It is divided into 18 residential suburbs, with a couple of light industrial areas, which cluster around the main hub of Palmerston City.

Wedged between Darwin’s outer industrial areas and the rural landscapes of Howard Springs, Palmerston’s commercial centre is home to a sprawling shopping centre and a night market where fresh produce, local handicrafts and live music are all on show. The Palmerston Golf and Country Club lies just to the west, opposite an extensive campus for Charles Darwin University. The Palmerston Water Park is situated adjacent, with free water features and a slide for children to cool off in the tropical heat, while numerous other leafy parklands are scattered throughout the area. Palmerston’s recreational facilities include a near-Olympic size swimming pool, skate park and seven-court tennis centre, as well as an Australian rules football field, and baseball and softball diamonds at the Archer Sporting Complex.

Darwin's international airport services Palmerston and is well connected with the Northern Territory capital and its surrounding suburbs by public bus services. It’s around a 15-minute drive by car from Darwin’s city centre, while Palmerston itself is equipped with an extensive network of bicycle paths which traverse the city, many of which are lit during the night.

Palmerston was the original name given to what is now called Darwin when it was laid out in 1869, named for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord Palmerston. The name was officially changed to Darwin in 1911, and it wasn’t until a new satellite city was laid out in the early 1980s that the name Palmerston was once again selected.