National Drowning Report 2022

Every year, Royal Life Saving produces a National Drowning Report. This report examines the factors that contribute to drowning deaths in Australia by examining who, where, when and how people have drowned in Australian waterways over the last year. Royal Life Saving has produced a National Drowning Report every year since 1995.

As we present the National Drowning Report for 2022, we remain ever mindful of the people whose lives have been lost or impacted by drowning, including the many families affected by the loss or long-term injury of a loved one.

This report presents our analysis of fatal and non-fatal drowning across Australia between 1st July 2021 and 30th June 2022. During this time, 339 people lost their lives to drowning and we estimate a further 686 people experienced a non-fatal drowning incident.

In Queensland, there was 84 drowning deaths which is an increase of 25%, and an increase of 27% on the ten year average. View the Queensland summary here.

View the Media Release

View more information

Queensland

Drowning deaths in Queensland rose by 25 per cent last year, the new Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2022 has revealed.

Almost a third of the 84 people who lost their lives drowned in flood-related incidents.

Queensland’s spike in drowning deaths contributed to the highest drowning toll in Australia in 25 years, prompting water safety experts to issue an urgent plea to make safety a focus this summer.

Royal Life Saving Society – Queensland State Manager Education and Training Nikki Thornhill said the deaths were a tragedy that affected countless families, friends and communities.

“Our hearts go out to all those who are mourning the loss of someone to drowning this year,” Ms Thornhill said.

“With predictions for another La Niña summer, Royal Life Saving is urging people to be aware of the weather conditions and avoid driving through flood waters.

“Many Queenslanders might be surprised to learn that rivers and creeks were the dominant location for drowning, with 45 per cent of all drowning deaths occurring there.

“Alarmingly the largest number of drowning deaths occurred among people aged 25-34 years, which is different to the trend in the rest of Australia. So we’re asking that age group in particular to be aware of the risks and brush up on their water safety skills.”

The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2022 found that there were 339 drowning deathsover the past 12 months, which is 15% higher than last year(295), and the highest reported figure since 1996.

While further research is needed, the findings highlight ongoing impacts of COVID‐19 on drowning risk, including Australians being more likely to visit unfamiliar, unpatrolled water locations, children lacking swimming skills necessary to enjoy the water safely due to pandemic induced lesson cancellations.

Royal Life Saving Society – Australia CEO, Justin Scarr, said he was deeply saddened by the tragic increase in drowning.

“Increased drowning deaths in school aged children is tragic and may be a sign of generational impacts of lessons missed due to COVID‐19,” Mr Scarr said.

“Swimming and water safety lessons are critical to child safety.

“We urge adults of all ages to consider the impacts of medical conditions, alcohol, and swimming ability has on their water safety.”

The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2022 was released alongside the Surf Life Saving National Coastal Safety Report 2022 in Sydney on Friday 16 September 2022.

With the support of the Australian Government, Surf Life Saving and Royal Life Saving are looking at strategies ahead of the warmer months, including bringing forward water safety campaigns, delivering lifesaving services and working with governments, councils and groups across the country.

QUEENSLAND STATISTICS

• 84 drowning deaths
  • This is a 25% increase on 2020/21 and a 27% increase on the 10-year average
• 77% of those who drowned were male
• 31% of drowning deaths were flood-related
• The largest number of drowning deaths occurred among people aged 25-34 years (18%)
• Rivers and creeks accounted for 45% of deaths, followed by beaches (18%)
• Non-aquatic transport was the leading activity prior to drowning (29%), followed by a fall into water (19%)

NOTICE OF AGM   

We would like to invite members to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the society which will be held on Thursday 29 September 2022 at The Plantation, 1204 New Cleveland Road, Gumdale Qld 4154, commencing at 7.00 pm. Please find attached the Notice and Agenda for the AGM.

The society will release its annual report at the AGM and a new constitution will be proposed to replace the existing constitution.

If you have not yet renewed your membership for this season, you can renew your membership by completing the membership renewal form.

Please would you forward any apologies by email to admin@rlssq.com.au. 
If you have any questions please contact us on (07) 3823 2823 or email admin@rlssq.com.au. 

On behalf of

Mrs Carolyn Asher
The Honorary Secretary
Royal Life Saving Society Queensland Inc

Royal Life Saving Queensland is deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

We wish to express our deepest condolences, and send our thoughts and prayers to all members of the Royal Family and friends.

Queen Elizabeth was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, and had served as our Commonwealth patron since 1952.

We reflect with great admiration and eternal gratitude on her patronage, and her deep commitment to our lifesaving mission.

From the joy of the RLS Junior Respiration Award pinned proudly on her swim suit at age 12, to her most recent presentation of honours to colleagues, and everything in between. Her support has been deeply felt, much cherished and of great inspiration.

Rest In Peace.

IF YOU RESIDE IN OR AROUND TOWNSVILLE – WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

Royal Life Saving needs your help in collecting data to further water safety advocacy and reduce drowning in the region.

The research study aims to:
– Explore where, how often and what you do at aquatic locations in and around Townsville
– Explore how far you travel and how often you visit aquatic locations in and around Townsville
– Your thoughts on water safety in Townsville

Drowning is preventable.

#drowningprevention#watersafety#northqueensland#townsville

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A new financial year means it is time to renew your facility’s subscription to the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations (GSPO)!

The GSPO is the recognised national industry standard that describes and makes recommendations as to the appropriate minimum standards of safety that should be attached to the design, ownership and operations of aquatic facilities thereby providing a recognised standard of care in a particular area of design and/or operations.

They provide a recognised standard of care in particular areas of design and operations. While subscription is voluntary, it is highly recommended and on a per-facility basis.

To access the Guidelines

Under a variety of legal standards and frameworks, facility designers, owners and operators are charged with the responsibility of ensuring public and worker health and safety arising from the business and/or undertaking of aquatic facilities and their activities. For 30 years, Royal Life Saving has written the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operation (GSPO), which compiles and contextualises these standards and frameworks, making them easier to understand and apply to aquatic facilities.

Although published by Royal Life Saving, the GSPO represents the collective opinion of the aquatic industry across Australia, through an extensive and consultative development and review process undertaken by the National Aquatic Industry Committee (NAIC). As such, the GSPO is written and authorised for industry by industry – leveraging a formal network of collaborators both nationally and internationally.

All aquatic facility designers, owners and operators are strongly recommended to access and have an understanding of the GSPO in order to meet their obligations under the respective state and/or territory health and safety legislation.

To learn more click here.

Royal Life Saving Society – Australia is proud to launch its first Reconciliation Action Plan, taking the challenge to learn, listen and commit to reconciliation with our First Nations people.

It is hoped that this journey will influence our staff, volunteers, member organisations and partners to make positive contributions to reconciliation in their communities across Australia.

We aspire to ensure that children have access to swimming pools and swimming lessons. That youth learn lifesaving skills, and we provide opportunities to viable careers both in aquatics and those leadership lessons into other jobs and other elements of life.

We aspire to harness the transformative power of the local pool as a venue for social cohesion, for community connections and for health benefits that extend beyond childhood and across all life stages.

The rivers, lakes, pools billabongs and dams in Australia bring life to communities. They are places for play, social connection, and recreation. They can also be spaces of danger and tragedy.

We note the long-term lifesaving skills of coastal and freshwater nations. Those skills helped to keep communities safe in seasons of floods and cyclones.

Our ambition is to continue partnerships that actively engage and encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to access, design, participate in, and lead water safety programs for safety, fun and employment.

As part of our Reconciliation Action Plan, Royal Life Saving is committed to the principles of relationships, respect, and opportunities. We celebrate the resilience, survival, wisdom, deep connection to water and land that continues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and communities.

Royal Life Saving thanks Reconciliation Australia, Murawin Consultants and Sahba Delshad for guiding us through this process.

You can download the Reconciliation Plan here.https://rlssq.com.au/Downloads/Reconcilliation-Action-Plan.pdf

ON JULY 25, PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD WILL MARK THE SECOND WORLD DROWNING PREVENTION DAY

In April 2021, the United Nations adopted the historic first Resolution on Global Drowning Prevention, recognising the scale of the problem and calling for coordinated action to prevent drowning.

Drowning is an issue that affects every nation of the world. Globally, an estimated 235,600 people lost their lives to drowning in 2019.

In Australia hundreds of families lose loved ones to drowning every year.

Eighty percent of those who drown are male.

DROWNING IS INEQUITABLE

Drowning has been the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths in the last decade. It is a significant international issue that to date has been largely unrecognised relative to its impact.

More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells, domestic water storage vessels and swimming pools in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected.

Drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children and young people aged 1-24 years in every region of the world.

WE ARE ASKING ORGANISATIONS ACROSS QUEENSLAND TO HELP PROMOTE WORLD DROWNING PREVENTION DAY

SCHOOLS

We would absolutely love and appreciate your support in promoting this important message by holding a free dress day – encouraging students to wear blue, along with a gold coin donation.

The school that raises the most money in their region will receive our Royal Rescuers program for free!

Our Royal Rescuers 1 hour Water Safety Education Program is a water safety and CPR awareness skills and knowledge program for school students (prep – year 8), aiming to provide the skills and knowledge for staying safe in and around the water, how to offer assistance and CPR awareness.

All schools that participate will receive a certificate of thanks, along with an explanation of how the money will be used to prevent drowning in Queensland. This will also be awarded in conjunction with other RLSSQ gifts of thanks.

We are also putting our ‘Rescue’ Challenge forward to schools. This challenge will encourage students to undertake and film their best rescues (reach, throw, tow). Get creative!

All donations will go towards providing further programs and initiatives of Royal Life Saving Queensland to support our vision of a state free from drowning.

AQUATIC FACILITIES

There have been a range of online marketing resources for industry to promote across their own communication channels and to display at their facility here. This content includes: Website, Social Media and Video Content.

Additionally, we are asking industry to help further promote this message by asking swim school participants to attend their swimming lessons in blue, and by tagging us in their best rescues (reach, throw, tow) videos for our ‘Rescue Challenge’.

RLSSQ RESCUE CHALLENGE

The #RLSSQRescueChallenge calls for participants to undertake and film their best water or land-based rescues. This could include; Talk, Reach, Throw or Tow Rescues.

We can’t wait to see your skills – get creative!

*Please note that safety should be considered at all times.

Be sure to tag #DrowningPrevention, #WorldDrowningPrevention Day and @RoyalLifeSavingSocietyQueensland and @RoyalLifeSaving in your social media posts.

Register here to take part in our World Drowning Day Prevention Activities:

On Tuesday morning, Ithaca-Caloundra City Life Saving Club played host to the Royal Life Saving Society Queensland and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Service Agreement Launch.

Over the course of the morning, we were joined by a few students from STEPS Pathways College who helped demonstrate their newfound water safety skills gained from our Water STAARS pilot program held back in April this year. The activities included rescue tube relays and rescue tube rescues.

The five-week pilot program was designed to help people with a disability enjoy Queensland waterways safely by equipping them with essential information and safety skills.

The pilot program proved such a success that a 12-week water safety course will now be integrated in the college from term 4 onwards.

The celebrated agreement will fund critical training activities including Bronze Medallion, Swim Teacher Courses and water safety programs, and will help more than 350 volunteers to save lives in Queensland over the next two years.

As well as coastal locations at Airlie Beach, Ithaca-Caloundra and the Neptune Life Saving Club, the funding will support new community swimming programs and training at places such as Boulia and Winton in the Central West and Thursday Island.

We would like to thank QFES Commissioner Mr Greg Leach, Acting Deputy Commissioner Stephen Smith and Mr Jason Hunt MP Member for Caloundra for joining us to celebrate such a successful partnership.

We are very grateful to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services for their support of us, so we can continue delivering nationally recognised programs to Queenslanders.

To read the full media release click here.

Royal Life Saving Queensland releases our summer newsletter. In this newsletter read about:

• Airlie Beach Lifeguard Club
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Job Opportunities
• Our Trainers Workshop
• Projects Update
• Upcoming projects
• Water STAARS
• Water Safety Round Table Discussion: Townsville
• Gold Coast Aquatic Facility Award
• Swim and Survive 40th Birthday
• 2022 Brisbane Careers and Employment Expo
• First Aid for Families: Recreational Course

Download your copy now.

EVENT OVERVIEW

The National Water Safety Summit 2022 will bring together people from across all areas of the water safety sector to reflect on progress and explore opportunities to strengthen alignment to the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 (AWSS).

This two-day National Summit will focus on:

• Energising the water safety sector across Australia after a challenging 2 years
• Connecting, collaborating, and sharing ideas among water safety researchers, policy makers and practitioners
• Driving the implementation of the AWSS 2030 and key activities towards achieving the goal of a 50% reduction in drowning

Royal Life Saving and Surf Life Saving are proudly supporting this event on behalf of the Australian Water Safety Council. We expect many friends and colleagues to contribute to the program and help make this event reinforcing of a collaborative approach to reducing drowning in Australia.

This event forms part of Australian plans to commemorate the 2^nd UN declared World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July 2022. This year WHO is encouraging individuals, groups, and governments to do one thing to prevent drowning.

EVENT DETAILS

The National Water Safety Summit 2022 will be held on Thursday 4^th and Friday 5^th August 2022 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney.

Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea will be provided. A networking social function is scheduled for the end of day one (Thursday).

Each day will include:

• Plenary sessions with keynote speakers
• Short presentations designed to stimulate your thinking
• Interactive workshopping and discussions

The following topics from the Australian Water Safety Strategy will be covered over the two-days:

• Priority Area – People:
  • Children 0-4 years
• Priority Area – Places:
  • Beaches
  • River and lakes
  • Aquatic Facilities
• Priority Area – Risk Factors
  • Swimming and water safety skills
• Priority Area – Populations
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  • Multicultural communities
  • Regional and remote communities
• Focus Area – Activities
  • Boating and watercraft
  • Fishing and rock fishing
  • Diving and snorkelling

REGISTRATION DETAILS

REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

REGISTRATION PRICING DETAILS

All rates quoted include GST and are in Australian dollars.

Registration includes:

• All morning and afternoon teas and lunches during the program
• Free WiFi access throughout the venue
• A ticket to the networking social function on Day 1 – Thursday 4th August 2022 (RSVP is required for catering purposes and can be provided during the registration process)
• Access to recordings after the event
• Certificate of participation (if required)

Cancellation Policy

Substitution:

• If your circumstances change and you can no longer attend the event, you are welcome to nominate a substitute to attend at no additional cost by Friday 28th July 2022.

Cancellation:

• You are entitled to a refund if the cancellation is received on or before Friday 15^th July 2022.
• However, refunds will be processed with a A$50 service charge applied per person of cancellation.
• Cancellations received after Friday 15th July 2022 are not eligible for refunds.
• Any cancellation or substitution requests should be made in writing and directed to info@rlssa.org.au