[1] It opened in September 1994 in the town's Old Courthouse building, which had been leased for a period of five years.

[2] By 2001, the premises had become too small and the NT-heritage-listed Old Alice Springs Gaol[3] was offered as a new location.

In 2007 the museum was officially opened in its new location by Marion Scrymgour, Minister for Women's Policy and the first Indigenous Australian woman to be elected to the Parliament of the Northern Territory.

[6] It recognises "any woman who is a pioneer in her chosen field from settlement to present day".

[1] The museum has two patrons: Dame Quentin Bryce, a former Governor-General of Australia, and Gaby Kennard, the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world,[2] in 1989.