The Northern Territory’s Barkly Regional Council has been honoured at the 2025 Administrator’s Medal Awards at Government House in Darwin, receiving the distinguished Royal Life Saving Society NT President’s Award.
The event, hosted by Administrator to the Northern Territory, Professor Hugh Heggie AO PSM and Ruth Jones, celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of the Royal Life Saving Northern Territory, honouring six decades of commitment to water safety across the Territory.
The Award received by the Council recognises outstanding service to water safety and drowning prevention in the Barkly region and comes as the future of the Tennant Creek Public Pool faces uncertainty.
“A huge congratulations to our incredible pool team. Your hard work, passion, and community-first approach is deeply appreciated and now formally recognised,” said Mayor, Sid Vashist.
“Our regional pool is the only public pool available in the 1,200km stretch between Alice Springs and Katherine. It services not just Tennant Creek, but a vast portion of the Barkly region – providing a vital space for cooling down, learning water safety, exercising, better health outcomes, and building community connection.
“Unfortunately, the infrastructure that supports this pool is ageing and beyond economic repair. The pump room – the heart of our operations – is failing. This puts immense strain on keeping the pool open, especially during our harsh summer months when temperatures soar past 40°C. When the pool isn’t operational, we know how frustrating that is for the whole community.”
The Council has been proactively working with the community to design a new aquatic centre as a long-term solution. However, in the short-term it is hoping for urgent State Government funding to replace the failing pump room.
While at the event, the Mayor took time to meet with NT Minister for People, Sports and Culture, Jinson Charls, to present the pool business case for what he says is much-needed infrastructure upgrade.
“While our people do incredible work, as this Award proves, they need the right tools and functional infrastructure to support them,” said Mayor Vashist.
“We’re committed to delivering better facilities for our region — because the Barkly deserves it.”
Barkly Regional Council is responsible for fostering sustainable development and delivering essential services to over 8,000 residents over 322, 713 square kilometres across the Northern Territory.
