Jane Bardon
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Articles by Jane Bardon
Program: Remote women's plan to tackle DV
A group of remote Northern Territory Indigenous women have drawn up their own roadmap for getting their communities out of a cycle of domestic violence. The women are appealing for Northern Territory and federal government funding to try to fill gaps in services to prevent and respond to domestic violence. The Northern Territory has a domestic violence homicide rate seven times the national average.
Wadeye, Peppimenarti women's group works to break domestic violence cycle
Peppimenarti resident Annunciata Nunuk Wilson has helped many women who have been injured by their partners, because her remote Northern Territory community does not have a safe house and the nearest police are an hour's drive away in Wadeye. Ms Wilson recently took a woman who had been stabbed off the street and into her home. "She had a cut between her ribs and her hip," she said. "She was kneeling over in pain.
Two men seriously injured in violence at remote NT community Palumpa as Wadeye unrest continues
Police say two people have been seriously injured in fighting between armed groups in the remote Northern Territory community of Palumpa, 350 kilometres south-west of Darwin, while violent unrest in the nearby community of Wadeye has flared up again. An NT Police spokesperson said two men went to the Palumpa clinic at 11am yesterday with serious injuries — one with lacerations to his ankles, another with lacerations to his hands. Both men were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.
Divisions deepen over whether sacred sites should stop federal government's Lee Point housing project
The federal government ministers responsible for new housing estates being built at Darwin's Lee Point are coming under more intense pressure to stop the controversial development from cabinet colleagues. Defence Housing Australia is building 200 defence homes and 600 housing lots for private sale on the site in the city's northern suburbs, in a development that has attracted large public protests and dozens of arrests over the past four years.
Training safety a 'tough equation' for ADF as veterans devastated over soldier's death
Members of Darwin's defence community are devastated after the death on Monday evening of Australian Army Corporal Brendan Hannam in a rollover that injured five other soldiers at a bush training area, south of the city. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the incident that killed the 28-year-old, who was a passenger in a troop carrier that crashed at the Mount Bundey Training Area.
Program: Training safety a 'tough equation' for ADF
The Defence community is devastated after the death of an Australian soldier at a bush training area, south of Darwin on Monday. The Defence Force says it's conducting a detailed investigation into Brendan Hannam's death in a vehicle rollover. Former soldiers say it's very difficult for Defence to balance the need for training safety with the necessity to prepare ADF members for lethal combat.
Program: NT community appeals for social club trial
In one top end town, existing alcohol restrictions have led to bootleg sales, social dysfunction and violence between feuding indigenous clans, with street fights raging for weeks. While the problem isn't unique to the town of Wadeye, some locals think that a new social club could help regulate and reduce the impact of illicit grog while others say it could pour more fuel on the fire.
Violence-racked remote NT community of Wadeye appeals for permission to open social club
Jane Bardon and James Elton The proponents of a new social club in the Northern Territory's second-largest remote community say they want to run a trial of selling alcohol, arguing it could reduce black market liquor consumption which is contributing to serious violence. The Wadeye social club was built on the community's main street a year ago, but the NT Police Force and NT government are yet to give their final approvals for it to open.
Program: Wadeye wants violence-free future for its youth
In the Northern Territory's second biggest remote community, Wadeye Indigenous leaders are trying to find long term solutions to end a decades-old feud which has again erupted into armed fighting between groups of up to 150 people and left two men seriously injured. They are appealing to the Northern Territory and Federal Governments to invest in more infrastructure and services to help reduce the pressure cooker tensions in the community.
Elders hold 'grave concerns' ongoing unrest in the remote NT community of Wadeye will lead to deaths
Leaders and organisations in the Northern Territory's second-largest Indigenous community, Wadeye, say they fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed in ongoing clan feuds and are appealing to the NT and federal governments to help find solutions. Groups of up to 150 people armed with crossbows, machetes and spears have been fighting in the Daly region community over the past two weeks, attacking homes and police, burning cars and seriously injuring one man.
Program: Families fear Wadeye payback violence will continue
Aboriginal leaders in the Northern Territory's second biggest remote community, Wadeye, are desperately trying to broker a truce to try to stop armed fighting between large groups of people before someone is killed. But so far they've failed to stop the feudal clashes, which have spilled over into Darwin, and left two young men seriously injured.
Program: Indigenous residents fear being moved out of Darwin
The Northern Territory Government is facing racism accusations from Indigenous residents who have found out they're going to be moved out of homeless accommodation in Darwin to a tiny town 100 kilometres away. The Darwin centre provides accommodation for hundreds of domestic violence victims, long term homeless people, and remote indigenous community people forced to stay in Darwin to access medical services.
Residents at Darwin's YISSA homeless shelter to be moved 100km south to Batchelor
Jason Walls, Jane Bardon and Oliver Chaseling Up to 150 people in transitional accommodation in Darwin will be relocated 100 kilometres south to the regional town of Batchelor when the Batten Road homeless shelter in Marrara closes next month. Northern Territory Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill today announced the new facility would be stood up alongside emergency evacuation accommodation by October 11.
Program: Dugong decline prompts calls for action
The fishing industry and Indigenous leaders are calling for more government funding of investigations into why dugongs appear to have declined in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Commercial fishers are pushing back against suggestions gillnetting could be one cause, and asking for traditional hunting and poaching to be scrutinised.
Research showing steep decline in dugong numbers prompts calls for action in Gulf of Carpentaria
Fishing industry and Indigenous community leaders in Australia's north are calling for further investigation into why dugong numbers appear to have declined by 50 per cent in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and what can be done to stop it. Researchers from James Cook and Charles Darwin universities working with Indigenous ranger groups revealed two weeks ago that aerial surveys they carried out found dugong numbers had dropped in the gulf, from 10,000 in 2007 to 5,000 in 2025.
NT Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley defends decision to not publicly disclose potential conflict of interest
Jason Walls, Lara Stimpson, Jane Bardon and Matt Garrick The Northern Territory's deputy chief minister has defended failing to publicly disclose a potential conflict of interest with a close family member, saying "the rules are what they are" and he has followed them "to a T".
Program: NT Minister's link to data centre revealed
In the Northern Territory, the deputy chief minister is under pressure after it was revealed his sister-in law works for a company that is planning to build a $40 billion data centre. The revelation has independent politicians and community groups demanding the Country Liberal Party government reassure territorians the project is not being given preferential treatment.
Program: NT traditional owners want money for mine rehab
In the Northern Territory, Indigenous traditional owners say they are fed up with companies not putting enough money aside to clean up mining sites. The powerful Northern Land Council wants a guarantee that mines will be rehabilitated before new operations start up. The concerns come after a report revealed the NT government is not holding enough money to rehabilitate the Nathan River Resources mine site south-east of Darwin.
NT traditional owners considering mandating rehabilitation as condition for new mines
Exclusive by Jane Bardon Northern Territory Indigenous traditional owners fed up with collapsed mining companies not being made to put enough money aside to clean up their operations are threatening to start negotiating rehabilitation guarantees as a condition of allowing new mines.
Program: 'Shocking' drop in dugong numbers revealed
Researchers from Queensland and the Northern Territory and Indigenous ranger groups have recorded a big drop in dugong numbers in one of the most globally important populations in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The scientists and rangers think cyclones and climate change damaging seagrass meadows off Queensland and the Northern Territory could be some of the causes.
'Shock' dugong decline in Gulf of Carpentaria prompts calls for more research, fishing bans
Exclusive by Jane Bardon Researchers have recorded a 50 per cent drop in dugong numbers in one of the most globally important populations in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Dugongs are classified as vulnerable on Australia's threatened species list, and have the same classification internationally.
Program: First gas flows from NT Beetaloo Basin
The first gas has started flowing from the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin. The Northern Territory Government and gas industry have touted the vast shale gas basin, 400 kilometres south of Darwin, as one answer to east coast gas shortages. Even though the first gas is coming from a small pilot project, community opposition to companies using fracking processes is becoming stronger.
Doctor behind world's first voluntary assisted death, Territorians with lived experience welcome laws
Thirty years ago, Dr Philip Nitschke helped terminal cancer patient Bob Dent to die in Darwin under the world's first voluntary assisted dying (VAD) legislation. He is greatly relieved to see the Northern Territory finally follow other Australian states in again allowing VAD, after a bill legalising the practice passed in parliament on Thursday night.
Program: NT passes voluntary assisted dying law
The Northern Territory has become the final Australian jurisdiction to pass a voluntary assisted dying law, 30 years after being the first to pioneer it. The law passed late on Thursday night after hours of debate. But some terminally ill people, and some whose family members have used it in other states, are disappointed the law has been passed with tight restrictions.
NT's Indigenous rangers appeal for more bird flu funding to protect biodiversity, human health
Indigenous ranger groups working in Australia's remotest wild areas are appealing to the federal government to increase their funding so they can do more to help monitor and protect species from being wiped out by bird flu. The Arafura Swamp Rangers help protect a vast, nationally important wetland in the Northern Territory's remote Arnhem Land. Rangers Harry Butler and Derek Ashley want more funding to extend monitoring work in the remote NT.
NT's Indigenous rangers appeal for more bird flu funding to protect biodiversity, human health
NT's Indigenous rangers appeal for more bird flu funding to protect biodiversity, human health Indigenous ranger groups working in Australia's remotest wild areas are appealing to the federal government to increase their funding so they can do …
Program: NT Rangers appeal for bird flu funding
In Arnhem Land, Indigenous rangers are appealing to the Federal Government for a funding increase so they can do more to stop a number of bird and animal species being wiped out by avian flu. They are also urging the government to do more to inform remote communities about the health risks of handling infected birds.
Program: Wave Hill Walk-Off communities 'still battling'
The 60th anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk Off for equal pay and Aboriginal land rights is being celebrated by hundreds of people near the remote Northern Territory cattle station this weekend. Traditional owners are paying tribute to the struggle led by Gurindji leader Vincent Lingiari.
Looking back at the 60-year legacy left by Gurindji leader Vincent Lingiari's Wave Hill Walk-Off
To Kalkarindji Gurindji traditional owner and elder Rob Roy, the Wave Hill Walk-Off is one of the most important turning points in Australian history, which ultimately returned his land, and more than half of the Northern Territory, to Aboriginal people. "It's such a historic event because it changed Australia in regard to fair wages — it was one of those pivotal moments," Mr Roy said.
Program: 'More work' needed on indigenous health
Aboriginal health groups are telling the Federal and NT Governments a lot more work is needed to build on gains achieved in closing the gap in Indigenous life expectancy. They say the high rate of Indigenous premature deaths in the Northern Territory is unacceptable, and more support to improve poor living conditions and fund community programs is urgently needed.
Aboriginal health groups appeal to governments to do more to close life expectancy gap
Aboriginal health organisations have told the federal and Northern Territory governments a lot more work is needed to improve on gains achieved in closing the Indigenous life expectancy gap. Research on the Congress health service shows its work has helped to reduce preventable deaths from chronic disease in Central Australia. The organisations and their communities say more government support is needed to improve living conditions and fund programs beyond health services.
Program: Indigenous leaders criticise NT jail plan
Northern Territory Indigenous leaders and the prison officer's union are condemning an announcement by the Finocchiaro Government that it's going to build two more prisons in Darwin. The NT Government says they're needed because its existing facilities are overcrowded. Critics say, in the jurisdiction with Australia's highest incarceration rates, increasing prison capacity by another a third won't reduce crime.
NT's Mount Bundy gold mine being revived amid high gold price
A third Northern Territory mine is preparing to enter Australia's modern-day gold rush, with the soaring gold price attracting a Chinese-financed company to revive the mothballed Mount Bundy mine near Darwin. Executives from Hanking Gold visited the mine 100 kilometres south of Darwin this week to turn the first sod for construction of the mine's new gold processing plant.
Mental health service supports new NT parents struggling with depression and anxiety
Expectant and new parents in the Northern Territory suffer from some of the country's highest rates of depression and anxiety, but mental health services for those seeking help are sparse. That is why a new, first-of-its-kind specialist service, designed to help close that gap, has received a warm welcome since opening in a rural community near Darwin. The new mental health service plans to assist 700 people a year.
Program: Veterans concerned by new healthcare cap
The Federal Government is claiming the opening of a new agency on July 1 will make it easier for service veterans to find information about where to get health support. The "Wellbeing Agency" as it is called has been set up in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. But injured veterans are concerned about new limits on the amount of money they'll be allowed to spend on health services.
'Kick in the guts': Injured NT veterans join calls for removal of $5,000 health funding cap
Northern Territory veterans are joining calls for the federal government to dump its plan to place a $5,000 cap on the cost of allied health services they can access from next year, without being reassessed for support. The new cap will apply to services including psychology, occupational therapy and exercise physiology from July 1, 2027, unless veterans are able to gain approval for extra funding under a new process that's yet to be revealed.
NT Police says new public safety officers on the beat from today will receive the same firearms training as constables
The first group of Police Public Safety Officers will start patrolling areas of high antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory from today. The NT Police Force says the new officers have received the same training to carry guns and make arrests as police constables. The force plans to have 212 members of the new class of officer within four years.
Eight weeks after Kumanjayi Little Baby's death, Alice Springs leaders label government action inadequate
Alice Springs community leaders still devastated by the alleged abduction and murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby in April are warning that both the Northern Territory and federal governments are still not making enough improvements in services that could help prevent similar cases. Note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Program: Calls for better responses to child safety in the NT
Alice Springs community leaders still devastated by the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby in April are warning that both the Northern Territory and Federal Governments are still not making enough improvements in services that could help prevent similar cases. They're calling for better resourced child protection services, and better targeting of government money intended to make life for families in town camps and surrounding remote communities safer.
Program: 'No answers' over supermarket death in custody
The family of an Aboriginal man who died after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket a year ago have expressed devastation that no officers have been charged over the incident. Kumanjayi White's death sparked death in custody protests and vigils around Australia in May 2025. His family have now been told they'll have to wait another year to find out conclusively how he died, when an coronial inquest is held.
Program: Failed NT mine owes millions
Business owners owed millions of dollars by a Northern Territory iron ore mine that has gone into administration are questioning why it was allowed by governments to keep operating without paying its bills. The mine's debts of $360 million include $4.5 million owed to the Australian Tax Office and $9 million to the NT Government.
Creditors of Nathan River Resources criticise NT government for lack of oversight of mining company
Small business owners and workers owed millions of dollars by an iron ore mine that has gone into administration are criticising the Northern Territory government for allowing it to keep operating for months without enough money to pay its bills. Iron ore mining company Nathan River Resources (NRR) has gone into voluntary administration, with ASIC documents showing it owes more than $360 million in debts, including in unpaid wages and royalties.
Program: NT parents get new mental health service
In the Northern Territory, new mothers and their partners face major difficulties trying to get help for depression and anxiety. With its vast remote areas, mental health services are sparsely located in the territory, and it has the highest suicide rate in the nation. To offer more support for new parents, a mental health charity and the Federal Government have started a new service in a rural community near Darwin.
Iron ore miner Nathan River Resources enters administration owing at least $300 million
Iron ore mining company Nathan River Resources (NRR) has gone into voluntary administration, owing more than $300 million in debt, unpaid wages and royalties. The company owns the Roper Bar mine, 600 kilometres south-east of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Work at the site stopped in April when the the company stood down its staff. Five companies in the NRR group have been placed under external administration, with BRI Ferrier appointed as administrators in late May.
Nauiyu community leaders say residents will return to flood ravaged homes with no services
When her whole town of Naiuyu / Daly River was swamped up to its roofs by the rain-swollen Daly River earlier this year, community leader Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann believed government assurances they would help the community to recover once the water receded. Ms Ungunmerr-Baumann has been happy to see the NT Government make progress cleaning out Nauiyu's houses, but she is worried the town's 400 residents are coming home to a community with no services.
Program: Indigenous families question 15 deaths
Members of remote indigenous communities across Australia are painfully aware their life expectancy rates are worsening, compared to other Australians. In one Northern Territory Aboriginal community, residents are calling for an investigation into their local death rate, which they describe as 'not normal'.
Residents in this Top End town say 15 preventable deaths in six months is 'not normal'
Remote Indigenous communities across Australia are painfully aware that their life expectancy rates are worsening compared to the non-Indigenous population. Note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Program: Residents return after Daly River flooding
Three months on from the worst floods on record in the Northern Territory's Daly River region, locals have now finally started returning home, even as a massive clean-up operation continues. But the community is appealing for more government funding to help clean and repair asbestos riddled homes and essential buildings, which local organisations can't afford to fix themselves.
Nauiyu leaders race to bring services back online as first residents return to flood-ravaged community
Service providers in the flood-affected community of Nauiyu / Daly River are pleading for governments to better support the remediation of the town as evacuees return to the area following devastating flooding. Residents began arriving home last week after spending three months in evacuation centres, finding bothrepaired homes and destruction upon their return. Flooding in the remote town, located about 220 kilometres south-west of Darwin, saw residents evacuated in February and again in March.
NT Aboriginal families in court bid to be recognised as traditional owners of Cobourg Peninsula
Two groups of Indigenous families have spent two days arguing in the Federal Court that they should not have been left out of a decision recognising their clans as the traditional owners of the Northern Territory's Cobourg Peninsula. Five indigenous clans lodged their land rights claim over the remote peninsula north-east of Darwin in 1978.
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