RCE Murray-Darling is establishing a consortium of key regional stakeholders within and across the southern Murray-Darling Basin communities to support and promote sustainable development through the integration of research, education and community engagement initiatives. The region of focus is in the southern part of the Murray–Darling Basin, which is the catchment area for the Murray and Darling rivers and their tributaries. It is an area of national social, environmental and cultural significance, and contains substantial natural resources, including the Kosciuszko National Park. The Basin covers 14 per cent of Australia and 1 million square kilometres, but it is very sparsely populated — the Basin has a population of two million people, which averages at fewer than two people per square kilometre. The causes and social impacts of environmental challenges in the southern Basin are diverse and unevenly distributed. The impacts of extensive drought and floods, for example, have caused major disruption to households and communities in the region, through effects such as job losses, industry closures, infrastructure deterioration, and associated stresses on community and health service provision. In general, rural and regional communities deal with a diverse range of issues including poverty and social exclusion, mental health problems and suicide, and an ageing labour force due to the exodus of young workers. There are ongoing disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous social and health indicators.