CLP Government makes free swimming lessons permanent

11 February 2026

• The Finocchiaro CLP Government has made free swimming lessons for all Northern Territory Primary School students permanent.
• The swimming in schools’ program was a success in 2025, with 17,899 children participating from 160 schools.
• The program comes at no cost to families, a family with two Primary School aged children saves $328 per year accessing free lessons through their school.

The Finocchiaro CLP Government is continuing to deliver real cost of living relief for families in its year of Growth, Certainty and Security, by making free swimming lessons for all Primary School students permanent.

The Swimming in Schools program will provide government and non-government schools with $3 million every year to enable Territory schools to deliver swimming and water safety lessons for all Primary School children.

The program proved a success in 2025, with 17,899 children participating from 160 schools – that’s approximately 6.7% of the whole Northern Territory population participating in the CLP Government’s free-swimming lessons.

After the successful implementation of the program in 2025, funding for the program will be built into schools’ annual budgets from 2026, with additional funding provided as part of schools' funding release each year.

Prior to free swimming lessons, an average of 338 NT Year 6 students met the National Benchmark for Swimming and Water Safety, at the end of the first full year of free-swimming lessons, this has risen to 843.

Minister for Education and Training Jo Hersey said the CLP Government was delivering cost of living relief for families and giving Northern Territory children crucial lifesaving skills.

“Under the CLP, your children will learn to swim just like they learn to read and write,” Mrs Hersey said.

“Exploring waterfalls, swimming at the local springs or pool and boating or going fishing are all part of the unique Territory lifestyle, and we want to protect that by teaching our youngest Territorians how to swim while they’re in Primary School.

“A family with two primary school aged children will save approximately $328 per year thanks to the Swimming in Schools program.

“We’ve seen schools such as Alpurrurulam overcome logistical and geographical barriers and travel 655km to Devil’s Marbles Hotel for their swimming lessons.”

Executive Director of Royal Life Saving NT, Floss Roberts said: “This policy transformation ensures that children across the Northern Territory will not miss out on essential swimming and water safety skills that save lives.

“Its success relies on the leadership and commitment of school principals, together with our Swim and Survive partners, working collaboratively to deliver high-quality school swimming programs for students and their families.

“In 2025, 17,899 primary school students participated, with 843 achieving the national competency benchmark—an outstanding result for our first year of delivery. Our focus now is to build on this strong foundation and continue increasing participation and achievement in 2026.”

Media contact – Zac Webster – 0418 670 192

Alpurrurulam School

Alpurrurulam School have demonstrated outstanding commitment and resilience in ensuring its students have access to swimming and water safety education, overcoming significant logistical and geographical barriers with strong support from the Department of Education and Training and the School of Sport Education NT.

The department explored options for the students to travel to Mount Isa in Queensland to access swimming facilities. When cross border arrangements were unable to proceed, the department worked closely with the school to identify alternative solutions to ensure students did not miss out.

In partnership with School of Sport Education NT and Royal Life Saving Society NT, a dedicated swimming week was organised in Tennant Creek for the Barkly Region and its schools, delivered by a Sport Education NT Sport Education Coordinator who was a qualified AUSTSWIM teacher. While Alpurrurulam School was unable to attend during the scheduled week due to circumstances beyond the school’s control, the department continued to work with the school to support participation.

When the school travelled to Tennant Creek three weeks later, the pool was unexpectedly closed due to compliance and maintenance requirements. Rather than cancelling the program, the department and School of Sport Education NT worked quickly with the school to adapt delivery arrangements.

As a result, teachers and students travelled an additional 105 Kilometres to the Devils Marbles Hotel, where swimming lessons were successfully delivered by the same Sport Education Coordinator, ensuring students were still able to participate in structured swimming and water safety education. Alpurrurulam School overcame significant challenges traveling a total of 655 kilometres to ensure their students could participate in swimming and water safety lessons.

This outcome highlights the department’s strong commitment to equity and access, particularly for remote schools. Though flexibility, collaboration and determination, the department supported Alpurrurulam School to overcome substantial obstacles and deliver critical swimming and water safety learning for its students.

Minister for Education and Training, Jo Hersey, with students from Casuarina Street Primary School participating in their swimming lessons at the Katherine pool.