More speeches

Launch National Drowning Report and Keep Watch and Swim and Survive Drowning Prevention Initiative

15 September 2009

Acknowledgements

Rob Bradley, CEO Royal Lifesaving Australia
Sam Riley, Keep Watch Ambassador
Mr Eamon Sullivan, Uncle Tobys Ambassador

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us here today.

While I prioritise this event in my calendar each year  in a perfect world, the National Drowning Report would not be needed.

And it would be nice to be able to stand up here and say that the report is only a page long, because nobody drowned in Australia during the previous year.

Sadly, that is not the case.

The National Drowning Report released today shows us that 302 Australians drowned during the last 12 months to June.

This figure represents an alarming increase of 15.3% on the previous five year average. And tells us that 41 more lives were lost to drowning than in the previous year.

This is an incredibly alarming trend. A trend that must be reversed.

The Australian Government is working in partnership with Australia's outstanding water safety bodies - including Royal Life Saving Australia  to do just that.

By working together, I believe that we can make a real difference around water safety in this country.

By working together, I believe we can reduce the number of tragic drownings that we see each year.

Numbers that represent very real and very tragic stories, for too many families.

Over the next four years the Australian Government is committing more than $8 million towards improving water safety.

And today I am pleased to be able to announce that $1.7 million of this critical funding will be provided to Royal Life Saving Society Australia over the next four years to strengthen Australian's water safety skills.

This funding will specifically support the delivery of key initiatives that will help safe proof our beaches, pools and homes into safer places.

Initiatives that aim to strengthen and nurture Australia's water safety culture  working with our kids and teachers in schools  and helping our youngsters to be confident and wary of water early in their lives.

Initiatives that invest in and grow our committed volunteer water safety base  helping to foster lifesaving, resuscitation and emergency care skills  and creating innovative pathways to engage our volunteers and expand their skills.

And importantly initiatives that help us understand where we need to lift our game  especially when it comes to preventing the drowning of our children.

And while we're working hard in partnership with Royal Life Saving to improve safety on our beaches and at our public pools  I cannot urge parents enough to start water safety at home early.

And today I would like to call on Australian parents across the country to check their pool fences this weekend.

The Royal Life Saving Society Australia, through their Keep Watch campaign, provides a free checklist on their website so people can ensure their pool fence is as safe as possible.

For example, do you have any objects near or leaning against the fence that could make it easier for a child to climb over? Does the pool gate shut properly, and is the gate's latch more than a metre and a half off the ground? Are there any vertical gaps under the fence of more than 100mm?

I also encourage our community, whether they have pools or not, to learn how to resuscitate - you just never know when you might be in a position to save a life.

As the Royal Life Saving Society Australia notes - everyone can be a lifesaver.

Life savers don't always wear a uniform but ordinary Australians can  and do  save lives everyday.

As it stands, the National Drowning Report continues to be an invaluable resource which provides us with the ability to focus on those areas where we can make a significant impact to reduce the number of drowning deaths and permanent brain injuries - the result of tragedies that are so often avoidable.

Thank you for being here today and I look forward to working in partnership with all of you to reduce the number of drowning fatalities in this country.

More speeches