Australia's aquatic workforce is committed to keeping communities safe, yet many workers experience occupational violence and aggression (OVA) as part of their role. At the same time, a positive and supportive workplace remains the factor workers value most.

Drawing on findings from the 2025 National Aquatic Workforce Survey, this presentation explores the prevalence and impact of OVA, identifies the workforce groups most affected, and examines the role of leadership in fostering psychologically safe workplaces. It will also consider the broader implications for workforce attraction, retention and wellbeing.

The session concludes with practical, evidence-informed actions that aquatic employers and the broader industry can take to reduce psychosocial risks, strengthen workplace culture, and better support the people who keep our communities safe.

In the water safety sector, scanning the horizon for risk, implementing preventative measures, and executing rapid interventions are second nature. But how effectively do we apply those exact same lifesaving principles to our own workplace mental health?

Drawing on extensive experience as a UK Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor, a suicide prevention campaigner, and a volunteer for the men’s mental health charity WNOW (When No One’s Watching), this presentation delivers vital "lessons from outside the water." By sharing insights from the frontlines of mental health advocacy, including campaigning for body dysmorphic disorder awareness and suicide prevention, this session will challenge traditional views on workplace wellness.

Attendees will walk away with a practical toolkit designed to spot the hidden "rips and currents" of psychological distress in colleagues, build genuine psychological safety, and move from reactive crisis management to proactive, culture-driven wellbeing. Ultimately, this presentation aims to show that the most critical safety gear we can provide our teams is an environment where it is safe to speak up, look out for one another, and thrive.

Background
Drowning events can have a significant impact on the mental health of those who respond. Leaders have a critical role in supporting responders after these events, yet are not always equipped with the knowledge, tools, or confidence to do so effectively. Investing in leader capability is a practical and high-leverage strategy for protecting responder wellbeing and sustaining workforce readiness, consistent with the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030's focus on a capable and resilient water safety workforce.
Description
This presentation explores the critical role leaders play in supporting responders after drowning events and what good leadership in this space looks like in practice. It covers the leader's position within the broader chain of support, including how they work alongside peer supporters and other wellbeing services, and outlines practical tools and best practice approaches for the aftermath of an incident. Drawing on experience from Surf Life Saving New Zealand and other frontline contexts.
Lessons Learned
Leaders are often the first and most sustained point of contact for responders after a critical incident, but many feel underprepared for this role. When leaders are trained and supported, outcomes for responders improve. Effective leaders understand when and how to engage other support mechanisms and facilitate access to them. Organisations that invest in this capability see stronger retention, faster recovery, and greater resilience.
Conclusions
Supporting people after drowning events is a core leadership responsibility. This presentation offers practical guidance for water safety organisations on training, equipping, and investing in the leaders best placed to make a difference when it matters most.

On 13 June 2026, Coogee Beach experienced its first shark incident in more than a century. While the physical injuries sustained by swimmer Leah Stewart were significant, the psychological impact extended well beyond the individual, affecting lifesavers, club members, beachgoers and the wider community.

In the days following the incident, Coogee Surf Life Saving Club recognised the importance of supporting community mental health and wellbeing as part of the recovery process. Working alongside local partners and support services, the Club hosted a community wellbeing session that provided information, connection and access to mental health support. The response was overwhelming, with approximately 350 community members attending, demonstrating both the breadth of the incident’s impact and the community’s need to come together.

Recognising the ocean’s central role in community identity and wellbeing, the Club partnered with Council to deliver the Coogee Community Swim one week later. The event provided a safe and supportive opportunity for people to reconnect with the beach and take a collective step towards recovery. More than 1,500 swimmers and thousands of community members attended, supported by a comprehensive water safety operation and the presence of mental health support services from Lifeline.

This presentation explores the role Coogee SLSC played in fostering resilience following a traumatic incident, the importance of community-led responses, the value of social connection in supporting mental wellbeing, and the role of shared experiences in helping communities recover. The Coogee experience has opened discussion about how trusted local organisations can create opportunities for healing, rebuild confidence, strengthen community bonds and support a return to normal aquatic activities, ultimately contributing to long-term resilience and wellbeing.

The Australian Water Safety Strategy (AWSS) 2030 establishes a shared national agenda to halve fatal drowning by 2030. A critical outcome of the midpoint review was the prioritisation of "Infrastructure and Workforce" as a national imperative to create lasting, transformative impact. The Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) Wellbeing Framework operationalises this goal, providing the psychological infrastructure required to support the nation’s largest volunteer water safety workforce.
The framework’s design is highly appropriate, grounded in the ‘Be You’ Mental Health Continuum, which recognises mental health as ever-changing and ensures interventions are tailored to various states of wellbeing. Structured across five core pillars of Protect, Promote, Respond, Recover, and Enable, the framework presents clear, actionable approaches. Key interventions include embedding mental health education into core training, such as the Bronze Medallion, and providing timely critical incident support through Peer Support programs.
Lessons learned emphasise a "scale up, scale down" philosophy: scaling up national policy and systems while scaling down to empower grassroots, "do with" community engagement. This ensures local efforts are empowered while maintaining national consistency. The framework’s conclusions are highly relevant, shifting the movement toward a culture where psychological safety is valued as highly as physical safety.
This work is original and contributes directly to advancing AWSS 2030 focus areas, including beaches, regional communities, and workforce sustainability. By integrating knowledge, leadership, and data-driven continuous improvement, it offers an inclusive, evidence-based roadmap for responder resilience. This holistic integration of public safety policy and responder wellbeing is essential for a drowning-free nation and offers a compelling framework for any national safety event.

Surf lifesavers are essential first responders in Australia, with adolescents as young as 13 potentially exposed to traumatic incidents during patrols. This study provides a clear background and justified objective by investigating how protective factors, social support, self-efficacy, and mental health attitudes, mitigate trauma exposure, and impact mental health outcomes in this vulnerable cohort.
The design is highly appropriate, utilizing an online survey of 118 Australian adolescent surf lifesavers (aged 13–17). Validated measures, such as the PCL-5 and Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, were used alongside hierarchical regressions to analyse the relationships between trauma and protective variables.
The results are important and will be presented, showing that 33% of participants met the criteria for probable PTSS. Findings revealed that higher social support and self-efficacy scores were significantly correlated with lower PTSS, while negative mental health attitudes were positively associated with higher symptoms. Collectively, these protective factors explained 28% of the variance in PTSS scores.
The conclusions are well-supported, emphasising that fostering supportive social networks and individual resilience can buffer the adverse effects of trauma. This study is original and novel, representing the first research to explore these factors specifically in adolescent volunteer first responders. It contributes to the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 by focusing on workforce safety and longevity, ensuring that the next generation of lifesavers is psychologically supported to continue protecting the community. Given its unique focus on a "forgotten" first responder group, this study is highly interesting and would contribute significantly to a research conference.