This presentation will provide an overview of shark bite patterns and trends in Australia. The Australian Shark-Incident Database provides insights into how shark bites have changed over the past century and in recent years, highlighting spatial and temporal trends, species-specific patterns, and changes in the activities associated with shark bites. Improving our understanding of shark-bite trends will help inform evidence-based management and public safety decisions.

This presentation will look at comparative beach safety measures around the world connected to shark bite prevention, including Cape Cod, Cape Town, Florida, Australia, and Reunion Island, with a focus on lessons learned over the past 20 years, and mistakes identified. It will provide insights that track best practices from a comparative perspective based on beach utilisation, shark behaviour, and environmental conditions/attractants.

My contribution to the panel discussion will cover a comparison of the shark mitigation policy arrangements in NSW and QLD, in which both jurisdictions have recently seen unprecedented increases in policy responses to shark bite mitigation. This discussion will cover what measures are in place and how they operate, as well as an overview of relevant environmental considerations and challenges around effective shark bite mitigation.

This panel discussion will focus on personal electric shark deterrents, an emerging non-lethal technology designed to reduce the risk of shark bites while minimising impacts on marine ecosystems. The discussion will also explore a broader range of interventions that have been used both historically and today, highlighting the varying levels of effectiveness and the trade-offs associated with each approach. Ultimately, the session aims to provide insight into where different interventions succeed, where they fall short, and what their consequences are for both human safety and the marine environment.

Shark-bite mitigation has existed in NSW since 1937. Sharks continue to be and are in fact becoming an increasing problem in NSW and Australia in general. This talk aims to provide a snapshot of shark mitigation and interactions over the last 20 years. It's not just a look back, it's also an eye to the future of how some shark mitigation measures may directly and indirectly provide vicarious benefits to broader beach safety that are one of the Focus Places of the AWSS 2030

This presentation will focus on the journey that Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) has undertaken since 2017 until the current day with UAV surveillance across NSW beaches to support the NSW Government's shark mitigation strategy.
The presentation will also focus on the next iteration of this program recently announced by the NSW Government and how SLSNSW will be looking to deliver greater coverage through incorporating automation and artificial intelligence for not only shark mitigation but more broadly coastal surveillance and water safety.