Inquest into toddler's drowning death exposes 'astonishing', 'disturbing' and 'inexcusable' council failures

An inquest into the accidental drowning death of a toddler in Kintore in 2020 has identified "astonishing", "disturbing" and "inexcusable" failures by the MacDonnell Regional Council. As the group was leaving the pool, Ms Armitage said team leader Paula Nadas did "a scan of the area and located all six children" before becoming distracted. Ms Armitage said moments later, lifeguard Paul Rigney locked the pool's external gate and drove home without doing "a final sweep of the pools or their surrounds". Ms Armitage said Ms Nadas had "made appropriate concessions, including that the supervision on the walk to the pool was inadequate" during her evidence, which she accepted as truthful and honest. Ms Armitage said it was clear the healing process "had been grossly neglected and was long overdue" but welcomed efforts by the council and federal government "to progress a mediation/restorative justice process in Kintore".