| | Scouting arrived in the Northern Territory in Darwin in 1928, with the formation of the first Darwin Group under the command of Captain Len Samut. At that time it was controlled from New South Wales but this changed the next year when control was passed on to Queensland.
Alice Springs formed its first official group in 1936, but it is believed the Movement had been operating there since 1923 – well before Darwin.
Tennant Creek followed suit in 1941, but it wasn’t until 1957, well after World War II, which had seen Scouting go into recess, that the first Katherine Group was established, giving the Movement a foothold in all the main Territory centers of the time.
The war had taken its toll though, and when Scouting control was passed from Queensland to South Australia in 1955, only two groups, 2nd Darwin and 1st Alice Springs, were registered.
1973 saw the formation of an official Northern Territory Area, but Cyclone Tracy dealt a blow when it destroyed records and momentos.
1986 finally saw the Movement come out of the colonial era when control of it’s own activities was finally passed over to the Northern Territory Area.
1st April 1989 saw the Northern Territory become a Branch which meant that the then Administrator, Commodore Eric Johnston A.M. O.B.E., was sworn in by the then Chief Justice of the Northern Territory, Mr. Justice Asche, as the Chief Scout of the Northern Territory, a tradition that has continued to this day, with Her Honour, The Honourable Sally Thomas A.M., the current Chief Scout of the Northern Territory.
Scouting continues to grow within the Territory with Groups in Darwin, Northern Suburbs, Palmerston, Howard Springs, Humpty Doo, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Alice Springs with Venturers and Rovers in the Darwin area. |