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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-03 Daily Xml
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World Drowning Prevention Day

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:57): I have spoken before on the tragic but preventable subject of child drowning and the upcoming World Drowning Prevention Day gives me another opportunity to reinforce the message.

If I sound repetitive, I make no apology. Drowning is one of those tragedies that may never be completely eradicated but we can certainly do much more to reduce the chances of it happening. Most drowning prevention measures are common sense and it is often apathy and plain non-thinking that leads to many of the tragic deaths.

A pool fence with a gate that closes automatically is not just the right thing to do, it is legally required, so is adult supervision for children under the age of 10 or those who cannot swim. The Royal Life Saving Society figures are sobering but very necessary reading. The latest national drowning report showed that 339 people drowned across Australia between July 2021 and June 2022. Of those, we lost 13 people in South Australia.

There were a further 686 non-fatal incidents nationally, some of which have left massive physical and emotional issues for the victims and their families. Those national figures—and it is sad but still necessary that they are reduced to statistics—are a 15 per cent increase on the previous year. Let us think about that: it means that 50 more lives were lost than one year earlier.

The figures show that every year Australia loses 22 children under the age of four to drowning, and another 10 every year aged between five and 14. Every one of these deaths is due to a lack of adult supervision, no matter how briefly they have gone unsupervised or unnoticed. A third of those children perish in swimming pools, almost exclusively backyard pools, and the most common factor is falling into the pool.

This tells us that if a young child is within a swimming pool area, whether they are swimming or not, safety measures need to be taken. Toddlers should have an adult watching them at all times and be wearing a floating device. These numbers tell us that we need to improve the already good work being done in teaching children to swim and educating them on water awareness. It is encouraging that the percentage of drowning deaths among young children is decreasing, but we cannot get optimistic while drowning deaths are being recorded.

The reason for the decline is the remarkable work done by the Royal Life Saving Society of South Australia and the lessons being taught at swimming schools around Australia. The overwhelming number of Australian children learn to swim in swimming pools, and this is where the Royal Life Saving Society does its work. For the trend to keep travelling in the same direction, we need to make sure that the Royal Life Saving Society continues to get the funding it needs to provide the courses needed to save lives.

The society's Swim and Survive courses are designed to consolidate the foundation skills children should be learning as infants, teaching them new skills and increasing the distance and duration they can swim. These kids have a lot of fun doing the courses but the focus is squarely on safety and survival around water. They are taught floating and orientation, swimming and survival strokes and rescue methods, and are educated about water hazards. The course is inclusive for all children and is an essential and critical part of a child's greater education.

Of course, children need to be taught about water safety and the dangers water presents from a very early age. A simple bathtub is too often overlooked as a very real drowning hazard. The latest research shows that Australia lost 14 people, mainly children, in that way in just 12 months. It is not just children who need to learn to swim either—it is never too late to learn.

The Royal Life Saving Society of South Australia also provides lessons for parents, which is obviously very important for family safety. Their inclusive courses are designed to teach swimming and water safety to people of all ages and from all walks of life. This means that members of our multicultural community, many from landlocked countries who have never learnt to swim, can gain essential life-saving skills. That is so important for these people who love our beautiful beaches and waterways but may not be aware of the dangers they hold.

On 25 July, World Drowning Prevention Day, we are reminded of the avoidable tragedy of drowning. We need to practice water safety throughout the year, and the Royal Life Saving Society of South Australia is instrumental in helping reduce these tragedies.

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