Katherine Town Council welcomed 13 new citizens and distributed a number of awards at its 2025 Australia Day ceremony

Thirteen new citizens were welcomed into the Katherine community last week, with a number of other awards recognising outstanding community contributions as well. See who the winners were.

A large crowd gathered for the Katherine Town Council's Australia Day Awards ceremony. Picture: Warren Gifkins

Thirteen new citizens were welcomed into the Katherine community last week, with a number of other awards recognising outstanding community contributions awarded as well.

Katherine Town Council’s Australia Day Awards ceremony, presented at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre on January 24, saw Mayor Lis Clark welcome 13 new Australians to the community and awarded a number of other recipients with major community honours.

Awards at the event included Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Community Event of the Year.

Karl Kratschmer is announced 2025 Katherine Citizen of the Year. Picture: Warren Gifkins

Unit Officer of the Katherine Volunteer Unit for Northern Territory Emergency Services (NTES), Karl Kratschmer, was awarded Citizen of the Year for his commitment to the Katherine community.

Mr Kratschmer made significant contributions to the Unit’s capabilities by securing grants for training and equipment, representing the unit on the Local Emergency Committee, and working to increase volunteer engagement through local media initiatives.

Beyond NTES, Mr Kratschmer’s community contributions include his work with the Greyhound Rehoming Association, where he served as Treasurer and helped rehouse greyhounds across the region from 2018 to 2022.

13 new citizens were welcomed into the Katherine community. Picture: Warren Gifkins

Young Citizen of the Year was awarded to Katherine Vet Care veterinarian Rupert Trembath, honoured for his contributions to veterinary services in Katherine.

Mr Trembath is currently in the process of taking over his family’s practice and is working towards establishing an Equine Surgery facility, which will significantly enhance veterinary services in the NT.

Since returning to Katherine in 2021, Rupert has played a pivotal role in the local and regional cattle industry, gaining his private pilot’s license in 2022 so he can reach further into the region and has pregnancy-tested more than 400,000 cattle over the past four years.

Community Event of the Year was awarded to the Katherine Ultra Challenge 2024, hosted by the Katherine Multisport Club.

The one-day event involved swimming, canoeing, trail running, road and mountain biking and a 4WD road run.

Three school students were awarded for outstanding citizenship qualities; Kooper Sauer, Swaran Lachaiya and Taitt Green. Picture: Warren Gifkins

Each year, Katherine schools are also invited to nominate a student who displays outstanding citizenship qualities, including a sense of fair play, generosity of spirit, concern for others, cultural understanding, and a positive attitude.

This year’s award recipients were Kooper Sauer, Katherine South Primary School; Swaran Lachaiya, St Joseph’s Catholic College; and Taitt Green, St Joseph’s Senior Catholic College.

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Originally published as Katherine Town Council welcomed 13 new citizens and distributed a number of awards at its 2025 Australia Day ceremony