Mt Liebig toddler septic tank drowning: Inquest hears new safety systems coming

Months before the two year anniversary of a toddler’s tragic drowning, septic systems in remote communities will be fitted with new safety systems, a court has heard.

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

Nearly two years after a toddler tragically drowned in a septic tank in a remote Red Centre community, new safety upgrades are on the way, according to a government department.

On Tuesday, the inquest into how Kumanjayi Fly drowned in his grandmother’s septic tank in Mt Liebig concluded in the Alice Springs Local Court after a two month adjournment.

Kumanjayi was two years old when he fell into the septic tank on March 29, 2023.

A blocked toilet and an overflowing septic tank in Mt Liebig, NT. Picture: NT Courts

He was pulled from the tank by his uncle and was sent to Adelaide Women’s and Children’s hospital.

He was brain dead when he was pulled from the tank. He died in hospital four days later.

Giving evidence first on Tuesday was Department of Logistics and Infrastructure portfolio management director Peter Lilliebridge.

He said new shields would be installed in septic tanks in Mt Liebig in “mid to late January”.

Ten other remote communities would also get the same shields, Mr Lilliebridge said.

New shields for septic tanks, set to be installed in remote communities in 2025. Picture: NT Courts

Family from Mt Liebig packed the gallery, listening intently to the safety upgrades their community is set to receive.

“We got the heads up that there was a shield out there that could give additional protection to the septics, we investigated from a local provider in Australia ... and we bought the only two left in Australia,” Mr Lilliebridge said.

“These shields will be put into place and there’ll be a number of tanks totally replaced.”

Mr Lilliebridge also gave evidence on change in the department, specifically on how it dealt with incidents involving septic tanks.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage presided over the inquest, which examined how maintenance was conducted by government departments in remote communities.

Ms Armitage said the inquest sought to identify government agency responses which were “not adequate”, and what could be done to improve them.

In October, the inquest heard how a 2019 plumbing report identified the septic tank at the boy’s grandmother’s house as non-compliant and requiring extensive repairs.

One witness in the October hearing, Mt Liebig School principal Lawrence Kelly, described the lid of the septic tank as “so loose it spun like a coin”.

Prior to the inquest commencing, the Department of Infrastructure and Logistics issued an apology for its failure to upgrade the septic tank.

Previously, the inquest heard there were 900 septic tanks at properties owned by the government in the Territory.

Written submissions will now be tendered to Ms Armitage, who said she would deliver her findings next year.