Background
South Australia experienced a concerning rise in shark-related fatalities and coastal drowning incidents, particularly in remote regions where risk is amplified by isolation and delayed emergency response. In alignment with the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030, Surf Life Saving South Australia (SLSSA) initiated a targeted, evidence-based project to strengthen regional coastal safety through prevention, preparedness, and community capability building.
Description
The SLSSA Regional Water Safety Project delivers a coordinated, place-based model across high-risk coastal communities. Using Coastal Risk Assessments (CRAs) informed by incident data, hazard profiles, and local conditions, the project identifies priority locations and tailors interventions accordingly.
Key initiatives include deployment of trauma kits supported by community training, installation of shark sighting boards and alert systems, delivery of school-based water safety education, and establishment of regional drone capability to enhance surveillance and response. Strong partnerships with local councils, schools, and communities underpin delivery, ensuring solutions are locally relevant and sustainable.
Lessons Learned
A key lesson is the value of integrating infrastructure, education, and local capability into a single, cohesive model. Community engagement has proven critical, with strong participation driving ownership and trust. The project has also demonstrated the importance of adaptability, maintaining delivery despite competing operational demands such as large-scale environmental events.
Importantly, building confidence through practical, hands-on training has significantly improved community readiness to respond to emergencies.
Conclusions
This project demonstrates how a regionally tailored, data-informed approach can deliver meaningful improvements in coastal safety and preparedness. By empowering communities, enhancing situational awareness, and strengthening local response capability, the model contributes directly to reducing drowning risk and improving survival outcomes.
The approach is scalable and offers a practical framework for other jurisdictions seeking to address complex, location-specific water safety challenges while advancing the priorities of the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030.

Background
Drowning risk in Australia is shaped by inequities in access to swimming and water safety education, particularly in regional, remote, and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. These risks have been further exacerbated by environmental and societal disruptions including floods, drought, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 prioritises increasing participation in swimming and water safety education and reducing barriers for high-risk populations. SwimVAC which is delivered by Royal Life Saving NSW addresses these challenges through targeted and flexible program delivery.

Description
SwimVAC is an intensive learn-to-swim and water safety program for children aged 3–14 years, focused on achieving national benchmarks for 6- and 12-year-olds. The program delivers structured lessons aligned with the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework in regional, remote, and high-need communities. Delivery models have been adapted to respond to disruption, including rescheduling during drought-related pool closures, relocating programs during flood events, and implementing COVID-safe practices during pandemic restrictions and lockdowns.

Lessons Learned
Despite significant disruptions, SwimVAC has delivered thousands of lessons to children who would otherwise face barriers to participation. Flexibility, strong partnerships with local councils and schools, and a focus on accessibility have been critical to maintaining program continuity. High levels of participation, skill progression, and positive community feedback demonstrate that engagement can be sustained during disruption. The program has also provided consistency and connection for communities, reflected in strong participation and positive experiences despite challenging circumstances.

Conclusions
SwimVAC demonstrates that adaptable, community-focused program design is essential to sustaining water safety education during disruption. By addressing access barriers and maintaining delivery, the program contributes directly to Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 priorities. Continued investment in flexible, targeted programs is critical to improving swimming competency and reducing drowning risk among vulnerable populations.

The Torres Strait Marine Safety Program is a collaborative initiative delivering vital marine safety education across one of Australia's most remote and culturally diverse maritime regions.

Presented by Tony and Marni from Maritime Safety Queensland, this presentation explores the program's origins following the Malu Sara tragedy in 2005 and highlights how waterways in the Torres Strait are not a luxury, but an essential part of everyday life, culture and connection. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience as a Marine Officer, Tony will share firsthand insights from travelling thousands of kilometers to remote island communities. He will discuss the importance of building trust over time, respecting local culture, knowledge and languages, and working alongside communities to deliver marine safety education that is relevant, practical and meaningful.
Together, Tony and Marni will explore the unique challenges and opportunities of delivering safety education in the Torres Strait, demonstrating how cultural understanding, genuine partnerships and long-term community engagement have helped improve marine safety outcomes across the region.

The Department has been given responsibility by the Attorney General's Department to meet the operational requirements of the pools. Our collaboration across and in government, with community and aquatics industry organisations, connects stakeholders enabling the creation of a safe, cool space in an environment where temperatures reach 45’.

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) incorporated by the 1981 Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act gave Aboriginal people title to more than 103,000 square kilometres of arid land in the far northwest of South Australia.
Mimili, Amata and Pipalyatjara pools are on school sites, Pukatja Community Pool adjacent to the school with all on APY owned land. Yalata pool adjacent to the school on Aboriginal Trust Land.
The project:
- Establishment of governance structure within the department
- Audit, evaluation and review of the pools
- Targeted recruitment strategy for pool staffing
- Workforce development to meet GSPO standards.
- Establishment of partnerships for VET training with mentoring support for employees
- Provision of safety equipment and resources
- Introduction of “Watch Around Water” (Signage in Anangu)
- Provision of relieving staff from partners & Department - Water Safety program
- Increased pool openings and users

The project is an example of working together to achieve significant outcomes.
Developing from the concept of “Schools as Community Hubs,” we are connecting families, communities and schools and the swimming pool is a great tool for engagement. The interaction at the pool lays the foundation for many benefits to address the challenges in the APY Lands and Anangu partnership.
In the future there are the following opportunities which we have already started to explore:
- Cultural awareness and connections
- Community Fitness programs.
- Pathways to job and volunteering opportunities through economic benefits for Anangu
- Community initiatives e.g. pool parties & social activities

Background
Regional and remote communities face barriers to equitable access to aquatic safety education, qualified workforce capacity, and safe aquatic facility operations. In South West Queensland, these challenges are intensified by extreme heat, geographic isolation, workforce shortages, limited emergency response capability, and the impacts of recent flood events. Public pools and aquatic programs remain essential community services for water safety education, health, social connection, and drowning prevention. This presentation explores how adaptive risk management approaches are being used to maintain safe aquatic operations and strengthen community resilience in remote settings, supporting the objectives of the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030.

Description
Presented from the perspective of a remote pool operator, SES volunteer, and 2025–2026 President of the Global Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Rotary Club, this presentation examines the realities of delivering aquatic safety services in isolated communities where resources and qualified personnel are limited. Drawing on lived operational experience and involvement in flood relief and community recovery, the presentation explores challenges associated with lifeguarding, learn-to-swim delivery, emergency preparedness, and community safety education in environments affected by workforce shortages, environmental extremes, and disaster recovery pressures.

Key adaptations include dynamic risk assessment processes, modified supervision models, flexible swim lesson delivery, heat management strategies, and locally driven workforce development initiatives. The presentation also examines how generational attitudes toward risk and water safety compliance can influence patron behaviour and engagement with aquatic safety standards. Recent flood events highlighted capability gaps in local emergency response systems, including challenges maintaining SES and volunteer training pathways due to limited access to qualified trainers within the region.

Conclusions
Traditional metropolitan aquatic models do not always align with the operational realities of remote Australia. Improving water safety outcomes requires flexible, community-centred approaches that strengthen local capability, workforce resilience, disaster preparedness, and equitable access to aquatic safety education.

Rural and remote Australians experience a disproportionate drowning burden. While preventable injury risk increases with remoteness, drowning appears to increase beyond this broader rural injury gradient. This frames rural drowning as a distinct public health issue requiring targeted, place-based policy and prevention aligned with AWSS 2030.

Background and Aims:

Drowning evidence indicates a strong remoteness gradient, with rural drowning incidence positively correlated with increasing remoteness. This presentation aims to: (1) examine drowning risk across regional and remote Australia; (2) compare this pattern with broader preventable injury trends; (3) and argue that rural drowning requires dedicated analysis, policy attention and locally tailored prevention.

Evidence and Results:

Taylor et al. report rural populations are proportionately overrepresented in drowning statistics. Drowning risk increases as communities become more remote, while general injury mortality in rural Australia is approximately 1.5 times higher than metropolitan areas. This suggests drowning escalates beyond the broader rural injury gradient and is a leading preventable fatal injury issue. The pattern is multifactorial, shaped by socio-demographic profile, inland waterways and farm dams, supervision, alcohol, boating and watercraft use, swimming and rescue skills, emergency response distance, telecommunications constraints and environmental conditions. Rural drowning should not be conflated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drowning. Indigenous status is an important equity consideration, but remoteness is also a risk factor in its own right and requires disaggregated analysis.

Implications and Recommendations:

Aligned with AWSS 2030, drowning in regional and remote Australia should be treated as a critical, multifactorial challenge requiring disaggregated analysis and targeted action. We recommend a unified ASGS-based definition of remoteness, GIS and fatal/non-fatal incident-data analysis, and community-led prevention through councils, landholders, schools, health and emergency services. Priority actions include river, dam and pool risk assessments; rural swim, rescue and CPR training; and embedding drowning prevention into regional planning and policy.