Governance of the area is determined by the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 (or APYLRA), whereby an elected executive board reports to the Premier of South Australia.

Due to its links with the Northern Territory and proximity to the border, the APY Lands do not observe daylight savings unlike the rest of South Australia.

[citation needed] In 1921, with white settlement now beginning to encroach on the aṉangu's traditional land, the South Australian Government proclaimed the North-West Aboriginal Reserve.

[citation needed] In 1937, the Presbyterian Church council, spearheaded by Charles Duguid, established the Ernabella Mission on the Lands at the place now known as Pukatja.

[citation needed] In 1961, to prevent overcrowding at Ernabella Mission, the Church established what became the community of Amata, but which was originally known as Musgrave Park.

[citation needed] In 1968, what is now the community of Indulkana was established by the South Australian Government, as a base from which to provide welfare services to aṉangu living in camps on pastoral leases, where work was becoming increasingly difficult to find.

[8] "Ara Irititja" is a project of the APY, commenced in 1994 to identify, copy and electronically record historical materials about the Anangu (Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people).

[11] A 2004 parliamentary report on an inquiry by a select committee led by Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Terry Roberts examined the shortcomings of the 1981 Act, which had not addressed entrenched social and economic problems in the Lands.

The review noted shortcomings in the delivery of human services and infrastructure, and identified a "need to address the issue of the overall governance of the AP Lands and to formalise arrangements within an Act of Parliament and/or the Constitution of Anangu Pitjantjatjara".

[12] In July 2007 South Australia Police in co-operation with liquor outlets in Coober Pedy (250 km to the south-east entrance to the Lands) agreed to create a register of alcohol purchases, to enable police to identify persons who purchased large quantities of alcohol in Coober Pedy potentially for transportation into Aboriginal lands.

[13] In early August 2007, the Rann South Australian Labor Government announced a$ 34 million package to "improve well-being of Aboriginal people" in the APY Lands.

[18] This amendment changed the licensing system for residential and commercial premises effective 1 July 2012, allowing the Minister responsible for the Opal Mining Act to grant licences.

[20][30][31][32] The list of Aboriginal communities (c) and homelands (h):[2] Governance of the area is determined by the APY Land Rights Act 1981 (amended 2017), whereby an elected executive board reports to the Premier of South Australia.

[51] The upgrade to the Main Access Road is a major project, originally scheduled to begin in 2015 and be completed in 2019, at a cost of A$106.25m (split 80/20 between federal and state governments).

The first such clinic in remote South Australia, it was funded mostly by the federal government, but boosted by the sale of paintings by Ernabella Arts, which raised A$170,000 towards the centre.

[61][62] As of 2018, the APY Lands were served by police stations situated at Amata, Ernabella, Mimili, Murputja, Umuwa and the town of Marla.

Pipes were temporarily capped, but elder Witjiti George said that he hoped the water could be used to support a cattle herd, helping to create jobs and an ongoing industry for isolated communities.

[26] In January 2020, the government of South Australia declared that due to the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season and drought, feral camels in large numbers were destroying infrastructure and putting families and communities in danger as they searched for water sources.

[73] The APY Art Centre Collective is a group of ten Indigenous-owned and -governed enterprises which supports artists from across the Lands and helps to market their work.

It was initially funded from the proceeds of art sales only,[72] but in July 2017 was registered as a public benevolent institution,[75] and as of 2019[update] was receiving support from the Australia Council, federal and state governments.

The individual art centres saw collaboration as a natural progression, because "We're telling the same story, and when we work together it makes us stronger"; in addition, exploitation by third parties is reduced.

[72] As well as the APY centres, Maruku Arts from Uluru, Tjanpi Desert Weavers based in Alice Springs, and Ara Iritja Aboriginal Corporation bring the number up to ten.

[74] Artist Sally Scales (who was formerly the youngest person to have been chair of the APY Executive Board) has been involved with the Collective since 2017 and is as of 2021[update] a regional project coordinator.

In May 2020 it was announced that two of the gallery's resident painters, Sammy Lyons and Leah Brady, were finalists in the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

[78] In April 2021, a joint exhibition of the work of Sally Scales and her mother, Josephine Mick, Irititja – Old, Kuwaritja – New, Ngali – Us (a generational story), was opened by prominent Sydney artist Ben Quilty.