Govt department apologises ahead of inquest into how toddler drowned in Mt Liebig septic tank

Ahead of a coronial inquest, a government department has issued a statement relaying “profound regret” for its “failures”. Find out why.

Mount Liebig in the distance with a verdant field of usually dry spinifex on the road between Papunya and Mt Liebig yesterday

The Department of Logistics and Infrastructure says it is “fully co-operating” with an upcoming inquest into how a two-year-old boy drowned in horrific circumstances in a remote community.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, department chief executive Louise McCormick “relayed profound regret” for the departmental failures which led to a two-year-old drowning in a septic tank in Mt Liebig, Northern Territory in April last year.

Aerial image of Mt Liebig, Northern Territory. The community is 325km west of Alice Springs. Picture: NT Government BushTel

“It is deeply regrettable that the Department failed to provide appropriate maintenance to this property,” she said.

The coronial inquest into the death is due to begin in the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday, October 14.

The boy died five days after he fell in the tank.

The local clinician revived him and he was taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide in a critical condition, but was unable to be saved.

Septic tank lids in Katherine (left) and the Barkly region (right) taken after children fell into the sewage pits. Picture: NT WorkSafe

In the statement, the department said it “acts as an agent” for public housing across the Territory.

The department’s records indicated the “septic system was not operating as intended and had been the subject of repeated unsuccessful maintenance, rather than being upgraded”, the statement said.

Louise McCormick

In the statement, the department said it would be “fully co-operating with the Coroner and will act on all findings and recommendations handed down from the inquest”.

Ms McCormick said since the incident the department had taken “significant steps” to “prevent any similar tragedy in the future”.

“I am sincerely sorry that this tragic loss of life has occurred, not only to the immediate family of Kumanjayi, but also to his extended family and the entire Mount Liebig community,” she said.