Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) that Australians live by the water, and being in and around water is part of our nation's culture and our identity, but this regular exposure to water brings risks that can be fatal;

(b) that so far this summer in Australia, 69 people have drowned on our coastline and in our pools and waterways, and paramedics report responding to 225 drownings or near drownings in November and December 2016;

(c) that in 2015-16, 280 people drowned in Australia, a 5 per cent increase in drownings from 2014-15;

(d) with concern that there is no national approach to swimming and water safety education in Australia, and that:

  (i) the water safety education Australian children receive depends on where they live and in some cases on their parents income level;

  (ii) not every Australian child is receiving the necessary instruction in swimming and water safety; and

  (iii) in some states and territories there is no swimming and water safety program at schools; and

(e) studies have consistently shown a concerning trend in children starting secondary school without the ability to swim and research shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are less likely to achieve identified benchmarks for water safety competence compared to non-indigenous students and this is also the case for children not born in Australia; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) implement the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework (the Framework) and ensure every child has access to water safety and swimming education by the time they complete primary school with every child given access to instruction in swimming and water safety in accordance with the Framework;

(b) conduct a parliamentary inquiry to investigate why many Australian children are not receiving adequate swimming and water safety education consistent with the Australian Water Safety Strategy and what measures it can adopt to improve access to swimming and water safety education;

(c) establish a national water safety education fund to provide support to the states and territories, water safety organisations and communities to ensure access to swimming pools, accredited trainers and water safety education for schools in communities which lack such facilities and services; and

(d) provide water and surf safety messages in foreign languages via tourism operators, flights, hotels and tours across Australia highlighting the importance of swimming and water safety on beaches, rivers, lakes and swimming pools.

At 8.30 pm on 27 December 2016, two teenage boys, Tui Gallaher and George Lopeti, decided to go for a swim at Maroubra Beach. Almost immediately, the pair were swept into a powerful rip. A passer-by saw the boys in distress and went to rescue them. Seeing his cousin in trouble, Tui told the rescuer to rescue George first. The rescuer did that, and when he went back out to retrieve Tui, he was gone, swept away by one of the most powerful bodies of water in Sydney.

In the ensuing days, I was at the beach, and I met with the rescuers—the police and the surf lifesavers—as they searched, ultimately in vain, for the young boy. I saw his mother collapse in despair on the beach as time ran out for her son. Two days later, Tui's body was discovered by a young surfer. The sad fact of Tui's drowning, and almost every drowning, is that they are preventable with the right training and education.

Already this summer in Australia, 69 people have drowned on our coastline, in our pools and in our waterways. In 2015-16, 280 people drowned in Australia, representing a five per cent increase on drownings in 2014-15. The increase in drownings that we have seen over summer is sure to see another spike this season and is a worrying trend. Australians live by the water. Being in and around water is part of our nation's culture and our identity, but this regular exposure to water brings risks that can be fatal. The challenge is not to avoid being around water but to learn how to live safely around it.

Government has an obligation to ensure Australians are educated in water safety. The statistics indicate we as a nation are not doing enough to prevent drownings in Australia. Every child has the right to learn to swim and be safe around water, but alarmingly, Australia has no national approach to swimming or water safety education. The water safety education that Australian kids receive depends on where they live and, in many cases, on their parents' income. Not every Australian child is receiving the necessary instruction in swimming and water safety. In some states and territories, there is no school-delivered swimming and water safety program, while in others, swimming is an essential part of the school curriculum.

Studies have consistently shown a concerning trend of children starting secondary school without the ability to swim. Research shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are less likely to achieve identified benchmarks for water safety competence, compared to non-Indigenous students. This is also the case for kids who are not born in Australia. For children engaged in formal swimming lessons, there is much emphasis on stroke technique and a better stroke, but little on teaching water safety survival and basic rescue skills. Quite simply, we are letting our kids down when it comes to teaching swimming and water safety and reducing the rate of drowning.

We do not have a national strategy to teach swimming and water safety. Historically, the Commonwealth has just left the issue to the states. It is time for a national approach to swimming and water safety education. It is time for the Commonwealth government to show leadership and to work with the states to ensure that every Australian child gets the necessary training and education to be safe in and around water. Every child should undertake swimming and water safety education and training by the time they complete primary school. This training should be provided by accredited trainers. The Australian Water Safety Council, made up of organisations like the Royal Life Saving Society, Surf Life Saving Australia, AUSTSWIM and Swimming Australia, recommend that children should receive training consistent with level 4 of the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework, commonly known as Swim and Survive. This is not currently the case.

I am calling on a parliamentary inquiry to be established to inquire into why drownings in Australia are increasing and why we are not implementing the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework. Teaching Australian children to swim and be safe around water is an essential life skill, and no child should miss out on the opportunity to learn to be safe around water.

The Commonwealth should also establish a national water safety education fund which would provide additional funding to states and territories to support schools to ensure students have access to swimming pools and accredited AUSTSWIM trainers. Teaching swimming and water safety is a vital life skill. The Commonwealth must show leadership and work with the states on this important issue.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to speak on this motion today, and I thank the member for Kingsford Smith for bringing this to the parliament. The member and I are co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving, and we work together in a bipartisan way to celebrate the achievements of surf lifesaving and to support the wonderful work that surf lifesavers do right around the country. And it is very significant: in any year there are some 12,000 rescues and some 32,000 first aid treatments on beaches all around the country. I really do want to commend Surf Life Saving Australia, all of the state bodies and the 12 wonderful surf lifesaving clubs in my electorate who work so, so hard to keep our beaches safe and also to look after the thousands of tourists who come on to the beaches every summer. As the member for Kingsford Smith has mentioned, it is really quite tragic to see the number of drownings over this summer: 69 people have lost their lives and, as we all know, one drowning is too many.

In my electorate of Corangamite, three people lost their lives very tragically. A young man, Winchelsea father Mark Jordan-Hill, lost his life when he came off his kayak at Whites Beach at Torquay. There was a man in his 70s who also died at Torquay surf beach just a day later, and then a missing 60-year-old male scuba diver was found some weeks later at Lonsdale Wall, Port Phillip Heads.

As I mentioned, these drownings should not occur, and I do support the member's motion with respect to increasing water safety and water education. But it remains the case that the federal government is doing an enormous amount to support all of the key peak organisations that make up the Australian Water Safety Council and to support this report, the Australian water safety strategy 2016-2020, which underpins a lot of that work. Every year the federal government provides $11 million to these organisations, which supports them to do the great work that they do. The government is also providing $8 million under the Beach Safety Equipment Fund to support the wonderful work of surf lifesaving clubs right around Australia.

While the member has raised a number of very good points, this is very much in the domain of the states. Whether it is swimming classes in schools, swimming instruction, beach safety, water safety education or even signage—converting some signs into foreign languages—these are most often the domain of the states, because the states have sole jurisdiction in relation to schools, or in many respects the domain of local councils. At a Commonwealth level we are absolutely supporting this strategy, which is very important, but we do want to see greater consistency between the states to make sure that every single child has that fundamental education. It is unacceptable that a child can reach the age of secondary school, in year 7, and be struggling to swim. I have just raised this issue with my son's school, as I believe that every single child must learn to swim. Some schools do it very well and others do not.

I commend this report to anyone; it is a wonderful strategy. In this report there are drowning prevention pillars which basically summarise the ways in which we can work hard as a nation to reduce the drownings. Certainly the Australian Commonwealth government supports the aspiration that we must see a 50 per cent cut, at the very least, in the number of drownings. Really, we need to see no drownings, but we absolutely must see a dramatic cut.

Then there are things like safe venues.

I know that in my own region of Corangamite there has been a huge controversy over funding a local swimming pool on the Surf Coast because there is no proper swimming pool in Torquay, where, as I have mentioned, there were some terrible tragedies over this summer. We need to see greater action from councils to make sure that we have safe venues to learn to swim, that we have the workforce, that we have the policies and that we also have the education. Policies go down to issues such as swimming pool legislation to make sure proper regulations are in place in relation to issues such as swimming pool fences at home, because we know that many young children die at home. It has been my pleasure to speak on this motion. (Time expired)

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion today by the member for Kingsford Smith on the importance of water safety. This is a very important issue for my home city of Newcastle and for the Novocastrians, whom I represent in this parliament. My electorate is lucky enough to have 11 kilometres of pretty stunning coastline complete with ocean baths and convict-built swimming holes. We also have inland swimming pools at Wallsend, Mayfield, Lambton and Stockton.

The water and our healthy beach lifestyle are integral to the way that Novocastrians live our lives and, indeed, see ourselves. We are also blessed with a wonderfully temperate climate where swimming is an enjoyable activity for most of the year, but we must never forget that coastal living brings its own risks. It is a sobering reality that 280 people drowned at Australian beaches, pools and waterways in the past year. The cost of responding to drownings caused by a lack of knowledge or skills is substantial, but of course the toll on families and communities is unspeakable.

Studies have found that between 20 and 60 per cent of children finish primary school lacking basic water-safety knowledge and unable to swim 50 metres. The number of kids participating in formal swimming programs is dropping. We also need to recognise that water safety knowledge and swimming skills are not evenly distributed. Children from low-income families and those from rural and remote areas are far less likely to develop water safety knowledge and skills and as a result are at greater risk of drowning. The disparity is even greater for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children not born in Australia.

It is true that there are some fantastic organisations. I am fortunate to have six incredible surf-lifesaving clubs in my electorate, namely Stockton, Nobbys, Newcastle, Cooks Hill, Dixon Park and Merewether, and each of those is taking on excellent initiatives focusing on improved water safety and achieving good outcomes. In my local area I want to focus on just two recent examples. One is based at Nobbys Surf Life Saving Club, which runs a buddy swim program for people with disabilities. I have had the extraordinary pleasure of joining them on a Sunday morning, where lifeguards and volunteers alike are out there in the water teaching kids with disability great water safety skills and knowledge, knowledge about the surf and necessary skills to keep them safe. Likewise, the Cooks Hill surf-lifesaving club is running a terrific refugee and multicultural swimming program, ensuring that people who were not born in Australia who are not familiar with coastal living receive the best tuition so they can enjoy beaches in the safe way that we in Australia would hope for for everybody. There is also the $4 million Kids Alive initiative, which is doing excellent work across Australia.

So much has been achieved, but obviously much more needs to be done. We urgently need a coordinated and properly funded national water safety initiative. I hear the members opposite suggesting that there is a lot of onus on state and local government in this area of water safety, but there is a critical role for the national government to play here as well.

Before the 2016 election, Labor announced a very clear plan to improve water safety and decrease the number of drownings. We committed to establishing a $40.9 million water safety education fund to support the states and territories to work with the federal government, Catholic and independent schools, local swimming clubs and lifesaving clubs in improving education and equipping our young people with the knowledge and skills they need to survive. We also committed to work with the state and territory governments to roll out a national water safety program, Water Safe, across the country so that all Australian children have the training and skills they need to stay safe in Australia's myriad beaches, waterways and pools. Regrettably, these commitments were not matched by the coalition. I am by no means suggesting that we on this side of the House somehow have a monopoly on the concerns of children and water safety. There are many members opposite whose communities have been tragically impacted by avoidable drownings and who care deeply about improving outcomes.

Certainly, I think together we should support call by the member for Kingsford Smith for a parliamentary inquiry into why children are not getting the water safety education they need and what the federal government needs to do to ensure they are. We should also back his call for the government to commit to implementing a national swimming and water safety framework, ensuring every child— (Time expired)

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the work of the member for Kingsford Smith in bringing this motion to the House, his genuine and deep concern and even his role on the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving group. It is quintessentially part of who we are as Australians—that wonderful coastline. The one thing that all of us who have coastal electorates see on Australia Day is so many of our people out enjoying the water in some way, shape or form. It seems to be one of the things we do.

We in this House all know that every single drowning is one too many. We see the great work that has been spoken of here earlier today through the water safety organisations like Surf Life Saving Australia, AUSTSWIM and Kids Alive - Do the Five—which I am going to talk a bit more about later.

The report done by the Australian Water Safety Council is a very sobering one. I think all members of this place remain committed to the target of 50 per cent less fatal drownings by 2020. There is $11 million going to the likes of Royal Life Saving Society Australia, Surf Live Saving Australia, AUSTSWIM and Laurie Lawrence's swimming enterprises. There is a range of different programs being run in various places.

The Australian Water Safety Council highlights the 283 drowning deaths on average over the years of the work that has being done. One of the things that hit me yesterday, when I read The Sunday Times in Western Australia, was that it said that over 17,000 backyard swimming pools across Perth failed safety inspections. This comes back to each one of us taking responsibility if we have a swimming pool. The other thing that was mentioned in the article was that spas and inflatable pools deeper than 30 centimetres are also required to be fenced off. That is something that not everybody is aware of or understands is part of the rules.

The other thing mentioned was the risk involved with inflatable pools that are just brought out and used for a period and put away. There is a risk and a great need for vigilance in that situation. With Kids Alive - Do the Five, Laurie Lawrence sells it beautifully: 'Fence the pool; shut the gate; teach your kids to swim, it's great; supervise, watch your mate; and learn how to resuscitate.' They are very, very good messages.

In Western Australia with our 12,000 kilometres of coastline our surf lifesaving clubs patrol 30 beaches from October to April. There is a Beachsafe website with specific information on the beaches that are not patrolled. In my part of the world I have beaches at Binningup, Bunbury, Bunker Bay, Busselton, Dalyellup, Meelup and Yallingup withwonderful surf lifesaving clubs. Bunbury was the surf lifesaving club of the year a few years ago. One of the things that all our surf lifesavers do really well is training. Nearly 12,000 people in Western Australia have been trained in first aid—to resuscitate—one of the most important things that Laurie Lawrence also works so hard on.

I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about the drowning deaths known to be related to alcohol and/or drugs. It is a very great concern that, according to the report, 46 per cent of these drowning deaths are in rivers, creeks or streams. For those of us like me who live in rural or regional Australia, that is a really big issue: young people—or people of all ages—out having a good time with their mates. This is where the message of, 'Look out for your mates,' is so important. On a farm, one of my greatest fears as a mum was our dams and our drains. The need for constant vigilance as a parent was extreme, and that goes for all of us who live in and around water of any sort. So any way that we can encourage and help young people to learn to be able to save themselves, but equally to take responsibility ourselves as parents and as community members as well—and for goodness sake watch your mates— (Time expired)

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Kingsford Smith. I thank him for the motion and also for the great work that he does as a clubbie for Maroubra. We are fortunate in Australia to have some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. We are drawn to its dazzling beauty just as much as to its cooling waves, particularly in hot weather such as we had in South-East Queensland over the past weekend. Even coming from the country, as I do, I know that many Australians make the trek to the beach in summer. Swimming at the beach is a part of our Australian life. Not many people had swimming pools when I was growing up, but now, particularly in Queensland, they are much more common and much more affordable. In humid Brisbane, an after-school swim on a hot day is almost mandatory before kids start their homework.

Sadly, the climate change scientists tell us that Australia is getting hotter. South-eastern Australia was reportedly the hottest place on the planet last Saturday, and such heat blasts will become the norm for our grandchildren. With temperatures spiking to 47 degrees on the weekend, Australia's obsession with the water is likely to continue every summertime. Sadly, what is usually a source of fun and relaxation can have deadly consequences. So far this summer, 70 people have drowned on our coastlines, in our pools and in our waterways. Tragically, there has been an increase in drownings in recent years, something that all politicians should be concerned about.

Although my electorate of Moreton is sadly not on Moreton Bay or the coastline, it does have the Brisbane River and Oxley Creek, and there are many riverside homes and parks in my electorate and, of course, many pools, both privately owned and great local public pools like Yeronga, Corinda and Runcorn. Many of our children have swimming lessons from an early age, particularly at school, and some, with a little talent, go on to represent Australia in international competitions. But, sadly, not all Australian children are so lucky. In 2017 there are still swathes of children who cannot swim to save themselves. Studies have shown that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children who were not born in Australia are more likely not to be water safe.

There are some very generous people who are doing all they can to ensure that children do not drown, such as one of my constituents, Craig Tobin, who operates Craig Tobin Aquatics. In fact, Craig was recently the recipient of a Moreton Australia Day award for his generosity in subsidising swimming lessons so children will be water safe, and I particularly note here in parliament his dedicated service to the Corinda community when he held the Corinda pool lease. Craig understands that swimming lessons can be a burden on families struggling to make ends meet. He has subsidised hundreds of hours of swimming lessons for families facing financial difficulties. Many of the children he has taught are from refugee backgrounds or are children with disabilities.

Milpera State High School in my electorate is dedicated to the settlement and English language development of recently arrived migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds. These students have even greater hurdles when it comes to water safety. Studies have shown that, for children not born in Australia, achieving the identified benchmarks for water safety is less likely to have occurred by the time they enter secondary school. Sadly, several years ago three children associated with Milpera school—one current student and two past students—drowned over the summer break. The school now provides two swimming instruction programs each year. Each program runs for five weeks, and 90 per cent of the students now complete that program.

The principal, Tom Beck, and deputy principal, Julie Peel, both said how grateful they are to be able to run this program for their students. They would like to be able to do more water safety programs with their students, but obviously, like most schools, they are limited by funding. For instance, they would like to reinstate a surf and safety program that exposed their students to the beach with the help of the Surf Life Saving association. This would be very useful for their students when they inevitably make their way down to the beaches on the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast, which, I am sure the member for Kingsford Smith would agree, are the best beaches in the world.

For all children in Australia, learning to swim is vital. Lifesaving is essential. Perhaps because most of us have grown up frolicking in our beautiful waters, we have taken water safety for granted. We cannot afford to keep taking it for granted. There are many children in Australia who are not water-safe and not water-wise, and this is not good enough. We need to change the approach to water safety. We need to take a national look at this problem and find a national solution. In this country, in Australia, learning to swim should not be something that is dependent upon where you live, where you go to school, or whether your parents are wealthy enough. Every child should have basic swim-safety competence by the time they complete primary school. It makes economic sense to make this investment, and obviously when it comes to children we would all agree it is definitely the right thing to do. I commend the motion by the member for Kingsford Smith to the House.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As one of Australia's 169,000 volunteer surf lifesavers, this issue is one that I confront on a regular basis. I, and my fellow volunteers at Alexandra Headlands Surf Lifesaving Club, have seen too many times the consequences of bad decision-making and a lack of knowledge around water safety. I am grateful to the member for Kingsford Smith for the opportunity to discuss the important issue of water safety this afternoon.

Though always conscious that there is much to do in this space, we should congratulate this government on the efforts it has already made in this area. I have certainly seen some of the impact of this commitment in my own volunteering. Conscious that in many cases it is volunteers embedded in the community that can deliver the best services, between 2013 and 2018 the government has allocated $15 million to the Royal Life Saving Society, Surf Life Saving Australia and AUSTSWIM to help them save lives. These funds are being used to pay for initiatives to improve water safety in homes, pools and rivers, and to teach the necessary knowledge and skills to children in early education.

Of course, in 2016 there were still far too many drownings in Australia, but not one of them happened on a patrolled beach between the red-and-yellow flags. That is thanks to the tireless work of our surf lifesavers. Without all the thousands of men and women, young and old, who don the red and yellow every week these sad statistics would be considerably higher. I have no fewer than seven surf lifesaving clubs in my constituency alone, from Alexandra Headland in the north to Bulcock Beach in the south. The government has rightly recognised what a critical part of our nation's water safety infrastructure these surf lifesaving institutions represent. As such, we allocated an extra $11 million last year to Surf Life Saving Australia. I understand that around $7.5 million of this money is being invested in upskilling volunteers with vital extra training, while more than $1 million is being invested in recruitment.

The government also knows how important rescue equipment is to our lifesavers. We have therefore allocated an additional $25,000 over five years to each and every single surf lifesaving club out of the $8 million Beach Safety Equipment Fund. My own club has recently seen the benefits of this particular policy in Fisher. Yesterday I went down to the surf club for the under-17 to open-age branch championships surf carnival in the middle of an intense Queensland heatwave. It was a very hot day and there were clubs gathered from all around the region.

It was a lot of fun and we learnt a lot about water safety and the competitive spirit that is surf lifesaving. While I was there I took the opportunity to speak to the club's president, Peter Duffy; its general manager, Ashley Robinson; and other members about the grant of $5,000 that our club, like every other, has received this year from the federal government. Peter and Ashley told me that the federal government's grants will allow the club to buy new rescue boards, rescue tubes and oxy-viva gear to name just a few. This kind of equipment can make all the difference in turning around a terrible situation and avoiding tragedy.

Human courage and selflessness can achieve a great deal, and they are the most important things that every lifesaver has at his or her command. But, against the power of the surf, it is not always enough. In a life-or-death situation, these sorts of equipment can be the final difference between life and death. Though much remains to be done, the government should be congratulated for its ongoing commitment to Surf Life Saving Australia and the Royal Life Saving Society, and for their wider efforts in supporting the Australian Water Safety Strategy.

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingsford Smith for bringing this motion, and I thank all those who have contributed to the debate. From Maroubra in Kingsford Smith to Sand Tracks Beach in Fremantle or from Coogee to 'Coo-gee'—as we call it—our electorates pretty much span the country. Considering the size of our nation continent, it is amazing to reflect on the fact that 80 per cent of the population lives within 50 kilometres of the coast. With 37,000 kilometres of coastline and 11,000 recognised beaches, there is a lot of ocean to choose from. For those not near the sea, there are great rivers, waterholes and, of course, swimming pools. Strangely enough, Perth, as a capital city, leads the nation in terms of swimming pool ownership, with 18 per cent of residents living in a house with a pool. Recreating in and around the water is one of the defining features of Australian life, but it has associated risks. The joy of being in and around the water is balanced with dangers and, unfortunately, in 2016 accidental death by drowning cost the lives of 260 people, as detailed in the Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report. I draw attention also to the emphasis in the report on the often severe consequences of non-fatal drownings.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in the period 2012-14 drowning was the fourth-leading cause of death for people between one and 14 years of age, and in 2015 alone it was the second-leading cause of death for that age group. We have also seen the number of drownings in the 55-to-64 and 65-to-74 age brackets climb above the 10-year average. It is understandable that priority area No. 1 of the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2016-20 is to take a life-stages approach, and goal No. 1 is children between zero and 14 years of age. But, for the strategy to be effective, we need a comprehensive and consistent approach from east to west and north to south, so I endorse the motion's call for a national swimming and water safety framework and a national education fund.

I represent an electorate that enjoys a beautiful stretch of the Indian Ocean coast as well as the Swan River Foreshore and the island of Wadjemup, or Rottnest Island. Swimming, fishing, boating and water sports of all kinds are commonplace. I want to take this opportunity, as other members have done, to recognise organisations in my electorate that contribute a great deal to water safety and do so chiefly through the time and energy of volunteers. Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club and Coogee Surf Life Saving Club provide safe beach swimming in the form of flagged beaches and patrols. Both clubs run education programs that take children from their first year, as nippers, to the completion of their surf rescue certificate and beyond. They are not only equipping young people to safely enjoy the ocean but providing the next generation of beach patrol and emergency response personnel. As an example of the scale of the BeachSAFE effort, which is the name of the surf lifesaving WA program, it is my understanding that in 2014-15 there were 33,000 BeachSAFE participants who, together, took something like 43,000 preventative actions in Western Australia.

I would also like to acknowledge the work done in recent years by the cities of Fremantle and Cockburn to improve safe but also universal access to swimming. Fremantle has invested in upgrades to its leisure centre to introduce ramp access to its main pool, and the new Aquatic and Recreation Centre in Cockburn incorporates state-of-the-art design to make universal access safe for all of its seven swimming pools.

While it is natural to think about water safety in the context of swimming, the Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report for last year shows that 60 per cent of drownings occur through accidents related to boating.

Both Cockburn and Fremantle sea rescue provide radio monitoring and rescue services around the clock, year round. This involves the work of dozens of volunteers, who give up their sleep and their weekends to stay vigilant 24/7 and to crew rescue vessels at all hours. I pay tribute to all the volunteers at surf lifesaving clubs and sea rescue organisations in my electorate and around the country, without whom there would be much greater harm and loss. I note that, in many cases, this work assists people who are visiting Australia. It is important, as the member for Kingsford Smith has identified, that we extend our care to those who may be unfamiliar with an ocean or a river environment. One in 11 of all drownings last year was a visitor from overseas.

The first story I saw on the news this morning was about a young boy who lost his life on the weekend while swimming with a friend to escape the heat. I can only imagine what that must be like for his family and friends. I hope this debate on the motion brought by the member for Kingsford Smith, and all the contributions that people have made, can assist in delivering on the Australian Water Safety Strategy target of reducing drowning deaths by 50 per cent by 2020. (Time expired)

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.