On patrol with the truancy officers charged with getting NT kids back to school

It’s 1pm on a Thursday afternoon and school attendance officer Jono Schwalger is doing his daily rounds in Alice Springs, starting at a local shopping centre before making his way through the CBD.

“We pretty much go to areas where there’s lots of people, lots of kids that we need to speak to,” he says.

Mr Schwalger is looking for kids who aren’t in school, who he then works with to support them to re-engage.