List of NT’s 298 uncertified schools, clinics and public buildings

From the Territory’s major hospital to its world-class sports stadium, public schools and health centres, potentially thousands of buildings don’t have an occupancy certificate. Scroll the full list.

Royal Darwin Hospital is on the list of 298 uncertified public buildings in the Territory. Picture: DAVID GRAY/AFP

Potentially thousands of buildings in the Territory including schools, hospitals and police stations have been used without an occupancy certificate for decades, it can be revealed.

The NT government announced on Thursday it would fix a “legacy administration matter” of 298 land parcels being used without an occupancy certificate.

The structures include Parliament House, the Supreme Court, Royal Darwin Hospital and NT Police’s Peter McAulay Centre, as well as schools and health clinics – some of which predate self-government.

It comes after the corruption watchdog investigated the illegal use of TIO Stadium without an occupancy permit last year, at which point Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler exempted the building from requiring certification.

Territory laws state it is an offence for anyone to occupy a building unless it has an occupancy permit, or has been exempted by a minister.

On Thursday Ms Lawler declared an exemption for all buildings and works on the list of 298 land parcels requiring occupancy certification, paving the way for a comprehensive audit of every one.

She stressed the exemption did not mean all of the buildings were unsafe, as some were built in line with previous legislation and others may only have a minor structure that does not meet current standards.

However the noncomplying elements of each building and land parcel will not be known until the audit is finished.

“To assure the public, the Northern Territory government every year spends large amounts of money, in this recent budget, it’s about $200m on repairs and maintenance … to keep our government buildings up to a quality standard to make sure that they are safe,” Ms Lawler said.

“Some of those issues are around paperwork, some of them we’ve also found that there’s already buildings that have been demolished.”

Parliament House does not have a certificate of occupancy.

Infrastructure Commissioner Louise McCormick said the government would release an open tender on Friday for an audit of the 298 land parcels.

“We do everything in accordance with Australian standards and building codes, but it’s that last piece of paperwork really, that we haven’t done or haven’t kept good records of,” she said.

“Schools, for example, the building itself where kids are in the classroom may be compliant, but there may have been shade structures that have been built since that may not have the certificate of compliance – so the lot itself is named as non-compliant.

“This work will take a good few years to do as you can imagine, there’s 298 lots with thousands of different structures on them.

“But we will work through that systematically to do some of the low hanging fruit early.”

Originally published as List of NT’s 298 uncertified schools, clinics and public buildings