John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that the number of drownings in Australia increased from 267 deaths in 2014-15 to 280 in 2015-16 as stated in the Royal Life Saving's National Drowning Report (September 2016), which shows:

(a) a quarter of all drownings occurred in inland waterways such as rivers, creeks and dams;

(b) almost one fifth of all deaths occurred in people age 25 to 35 years;

(c) 86 per cent of all drowning deaths were males; and

(d) there was a 30 per cent decrease in deaths of people age 0 to 4 years;

(2) acknowledges that every incidence of drowning has a wider impact including family, rescuers and communities;

(3) recognises that the Government released the Australian Water Safety Strategy in April 2016, which aims to reduce drowning deaths by 50 per cent by 2020;

(4) acknowledges that the Government is partnering with the peak water safety bodies such as Royal Life Saving (RLS), Surf Life Saving (SLS) and AUSTSWIM as well as Australian Water Safety Council Members and federal, state, territory and local governments, to work to prevent drowning;

(5) recognises that the Government is providing funding of $3.6 million in 2016-17 through the National Recreation Safety Program work towards the target of reducing drowning deaths; and

(6) congratulates RLS, SLS and other community groups for their work in educating people on the potential dangers of all our beaches and waterways.

I am honoured to move this motion, given the significance of the impact of drownings on communities right across our country, particularly regional communities—obviously, the people impacted directly, their families, friends, rescuers and others in the community who may be touched upon by such tragedies, whether they are in fact fatal or even non-fatal outcomes.

In moving the motion I refer, as outlined in the motion itself, to the Australian Water Safety Strategy, released in April this year by the health minister, which aims to reduce drowning deaths by 50 per cent by the year 2020. The strategy, and other reports on which it is based, clearly outlines some of the causation factors and, of course, some of the key issues when we look at drowning statistics right across the country—for example, that almost one-fifth of all deaths occur in the age group from 25 to 35; the fact that a significant number of drownings—some 86 per cent—were males; and that, whilst we remain very concerned about the safety of, particularly, young people in the 0 to 4 age group, we note that there has been some decrease in recent statistics.

As I said, this impacts on each and every community right across our country, and I will refer briefly to my own community. The city of Toowoomba is Australia's second-largest inland city, behind Canberra. It is a beautiful place, perched on the Great Dividing Range. Many of our residents would say that it would be perfect if we had one more thing, more water—a beach, a river or even a lake. You would think that the absence of those sorts of natural assets would protect us from the tragedy of drowning, but we in the garden city—a significant regional community—are too often reminded that we are not immune to the vagaries of water and its fickle nature.

In the past two years, we have lost three young lives in our wider region. A two-year-old drowned in a tank of water whilst playing a harmless game of hide-and-seek; a 15-month-old fell into a partially drained pool and, despite the best efforts of paramedics, died later in hospital; and a two-year-old went missing from his rural property and, unfortunately, was later found in a dam. These are the real tragedies behind these statistics. Theirs were bright young lives taken before their time. These are the types of deaths that our government is hoping to prevent in future by partnering with peak bodies such as Surf Life Saving and AUSTSWIM, together with various state and local government authorities.

A few weekends ago in my city of Toowoomba, a lifesaver talked at East Creek Park about water safety with ABC presenter Belinda Sanders. She asked: 'Are we your target audience, rural people who simply go to the beach once a year and may not be surf aware?' The lifesaver spoke about a local program, Downs Little Lifeguards, which focuses on educating young people of our region to recognise potential dangers and the survival strategies that they might need in case of an emergency. He spoke about how much the children enjoyed their trips to places such as the Gold Coast and the need for them to get hands-on experience in identifying currents and rips. He also talked about the positive aspects of education and needing to also focus on regional areas, such as where I live.

I talked briefly about the impacts in the broader community. Recent studies have shown that, for children in the zero to 19-year age group, for every one drowning death, a further nine children are hospitalised. So it is not just the fatal but also the non-fatal that we need to consider in terms of impacts. The strategy to which I have referred has a range of priority areas and 11 goals for reducing deaths, which I encourage members to study.

We should always be most thankful for the efforts of water safety bodies, such as Royal Life Saving, Surf Life Saving, AUSTSWIM, members of the Australian Water Safety Council and, of course, the various federal, state, territory and local government bodies that work together to prevent drowning deaths in our community.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I am pleased to make a contribution on the member for Groom's motion, and I thank him for bringing it to the House. It is a very important issue that has a bipartisan commitment to solve. Sadly, in the last week, we have seen the drowning deaths of three young children, and I start by passing on my condolences to the families, friends, communities and emergency services involved in those tragic losses. At the recent launch of the Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report, the latest figures revealed that 280 people were drowned in waterways in Australia in the last financial year—an increase of five per cent on the previous year. Ninety-six of the 280 people who lost their lives were in New South Wales alone. The report also found that 86 per cent of drowning deaths were male, the highest percentage in the past 10 years—indicating an element of risk-taking, I think—and that most of the drowning deaths occur at beaches.

In the electorate of Shortland, we are fortunate to be surrounded by some of the finest beaches in Australia as well as Lake Munmorah, Budgewoi Lake and Lake Macquarie, the largest saltwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere. These natural bodies of water are in abundance, but the key message is that we must be vigilant while enjoying these magnificent natural wonders.

Those of us who represent coastal communities in this place know how fundamentally important surf lifesaving clubs are. They are an integral and important part of our community and the way we live. We as Australians are fortunate that so many of us live so close to the beach. Thankfully I have five exceptional surf lifesaving clubs in the electorate of Shortland—Redhead, Swansea-Belmont, Caves Beach, Catherine Hill Bay and The Lakes—which I gladly share with the member for Dobell. All these clubs have an outstanding record of keeping our beaches safe, and I pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of all the volunteers at those clubs. Our local community and communities all around Australia are a better and safer place because of the commitment and sacrifice of these generous people—including, I hazard to guess, members in inland electorates such as Groom—when they visit beaches and enjoy the protection that surf lifesavers provide.

Surf lifesaving clubs provide vigilance and service through their patrols, water safety training and awareness education, commencing with their Nippers program. These clubs are run by volunteers who take the time to provide patrols for our beaches and the necessary training for young Nippers and junior surf lifesavers so that people can feel safe at the beach. Like so many children growing up on the Central Coast, I was a Nipper. This training gave me a great awareness of beach safety and confidence in the water. I look forward to my two kids, if they are interested, becoming Nippers in due course as well and to helping out with that particular activity. As the Nipper season has commenced, I encourage more children to enjoy Nippers and to be active in and around the beach. I encourage my young constituents to join a local lifesaving club. Hopefully as more children who are introduced to water awareness around beaches, lakes, rivers and other waterways from a young age, we will see a reduction in the incidence of drowning deaths.

This, with greater CPR and emergency first aid training, can only assist with providing immediate care. This is very important for parents and family members as they often can be the first person on the scene of an emergency. The Australian Water Safety Strategy encourages a collaborative approach that aims to reduce the number of drowning deaths by 50 per cent. This strategy identifies seven drowning prevention pillars: advocacy, research, collaboration, safe venues, workforce, policy and education. These pillars will play a key role in the commitment to drowning prevention in Australia, and I encourage this approach, with the collaboration of peak water safety bodies.

This parliament has a very important role in all seven pillars. I am a proud member of the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving, which plays a great role in raising awareness and support for our surf lifesaving clubs. I congratulate RLS, the Surf Life Saving society and other community groups for their work in educating Australians on the potential dangers of all our beaches and waterways. And I congratulate and thank all the volunteers who provide vigilance and service to their communities as surf lifesavers, both the volunteers at our surf lifesaving clubs and the paid staff employed by councils to do a great job during the working week. However, I do want to especially acknowledge the volunteers of the five surf lifesaving clubs in Shortland that dedicate a significant part of their time to our community so that we can all feel safe at the beach. Finally, I again extend my thoughts and condolences to the families, friends and communities who have been touched by the tragedy of drowning over the past year.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise in support of the motion moved by the member for Groom highlighting the incidence of drownings in our nation. The Royal Lifesaving national drowning report 2016reports that in the 12 months between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016 there were 280 drownings in this country; 280 people lost their lives. And 63 of those deaths occurred at our beaches; 58 occurred in our rivers, creeks and streams; 53 occurred in oceans and harbour locations; and 45 occurred in swimming pools. That is a five per cent increase on the previous year, when 267 people lost their lives from drowning in Australia. Even though it is slightly below the long-run average, this is far, far too many people losing their lives.

What policies can we look at as legislators to try to reduce this total? We obviously need to ensure that more young children learn to swim. The issue we have—if we look at our housing policies in our cities—is that more and more children are growing up in high-rise apartments, where they are unlikely to have a backyard swimming pool. In my experience, growing up in Peakhurst, a middle-class suburb in the south of Sydney, many of our neighbours had a simple above-ground swimming pool. We got in them as kids and we learned to swim. That opportunity will be denied to thousands of young kids—because of the change in the housing policy of this nation—because more and more children are growing up in high-rise apartments.

The other issue we need to address is the high cost of swimming lessons. Look at the cost of running a swimming centre. I have several in my electorate. One is the indoor Menai Swimming Academy that I visited recently. The owners explained to me that their biggest cost of running the centre is their electricity. They have to continually filter the water. It has to go through the filtering systems once every 24 hours. They also have the cost of heating the water. I hate to harp on this but the owners looked at the increases projected in their electricity costs and, under previous policies, if we allow electricity costs to increase in this country he would be paying an extra $100,000 in electricity up to the year 2020.

I do not want to make this issue on drownings a partisan issue.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well don't!

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am raising the issue that electricity costs for swimming centres are very high. If we raise the cost of electricity in this country that burden is paid by those centres that pay the electricity bills, and that means higher costs for children having swimming lessons. We cannot ignore that fact. We cannot ignore the fact in this parliament that there are policies being put in by governments, both state and federal, that are increasing the costs of electricity. By doing so, we are increasing the costs of kids' swimming lessons. That is a fact. We have to admit that is a fact and that maybe we need to have greater subsidies for kids to have swimming lessons.

At least, let us talk about the facts. Let us not just brush them aside. I want to see more kids in this country getting the opportunity to have swimming lessons. If we have policies that increase the cost of electricity, we push the costs up and make it harder for kids. I would hope that members on the other side would join with me and say, 'We need to make greater access for kids to have swimming lessons.' But if we put up the price of electricity we are doing the opposite.

Mr Thistlethwaite interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kingsford Smith will cease interjecting.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to see a policy where all kids in schools get the opportunity to have compulsory swimming lessons. That is what we should be pushing for. That is what we should be doing to give those children the opportunity to learn to swim. (Time expired)

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this very important motion on deaths by drowning. I am disappointed to hear that the member for Hughes has decided to bring politics into such a motion. We are talking about drownings. Only last week a family lost two children. It is an absolute disgrace that we bring in politics and try to bring some form of politicking to such a serious issue.

In my electorate of Hindmarsh the western boundary is the coast, the metropolitan beaches. They are very popular beaches, from Somerton right down to Semaphore, and include the beachside suburbs of Glenelg, Henley, Grange, West Beach and Tennyson. Every year, tragically, we hear of a drowning—sometimes more than one—at one of those beaches. A recent one I can recall was a group of people who were fishing off the rocks at Semaphore. A wave took them in and we lost a particular person—which was very tragic—towards the end of last summer. All of these beaches are patrolled by some wonderful Surf Life Saving clubs and their volunteers—people who give hours of their life towards saving other lives. Surf Life Saving clubs and, of course, Royal Life Saving carry out vital work to keep us all safe in the water. This is why it was a real pleasure on 15 September 2016 to join many of my colleagues here in this House, on both sides of this chamber, who were in attendance in a bipartisan, non-political way to receive the Royal Life Saving national drowning report 2016, which was compiled by Royal Life Saving.

As we heard earlier, the report found there were 280 deaths in Australian waterways between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016. This is an increase of 13 drowning deaths compared with the previous reporting period—13 too many. Importantly, however, while the number of people drowning has increased this past financial year, it remains lower than the 10-year average, which, I suppose, is a good sign. Of those 280 people who drowned, 83 per cent were male. It is particularly welcoming to note that the number of children aged zero to four who drowned decreased by 30 per cent against the 10-year average. The report also shows us that drowning deaths occur throughout the year during all seasons, not just during the summer seasons and weekends but randomly throughout all days of the week and times of the day.

As I said, this was an important report. It showed us the significance of being vigilant at all times in and around water, whether you have a backyard pool or whether you are in a creek or a river. Research into drowning allows us to inform the public and relevant authorities about the size of the problem. You are able to track trends and progress over time, which allows us to try prevent drownings through evidence-based prevention strategies—that is what Royal Life Saving does. One example is the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2016-2020, which has identified a number of activities and initiatives which will play a key role in the achievement of the strategy's goals. These include advocacy, research, collaboration, the creation of safe venues—at the beach or by pools—workforce, policy and education. The strategy also resulted in the establishment of the Australian Water Safety Council. This body acts as a collective voice for Australia's leading water safety organisations. It is so important to put these strategies into place to ensure that we do absolutely everything that is possible to prevent a single drowning.

I would like to give a particular shout out to the clubs in my electorate. I have some great surf lifesaving clubs: Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club, Grange, Henley, Semaphore, Somerton and the West Beach Surf Life Saving Club. Only last week I was at Grange speaking with Stephen Byrne, the president, and seeing the good work that they are doing in the prevention of deaths and drownings. I saw the new premises they are currently building. We also have Surf Central in my electorate and the headquarters of Surf Life Saving SA at West Beach, which does enormously great work.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I still have my Herald learn-to-swim certificate on the wall down at Phillip Island. Many of us in this place received our Herald learn-to-swim certificate at primary school after being able to swim across the pool. But I will personalise this motion: I congratulate the member for Groom for putting this motion forward.

When Daniel Broadbent went under the pool cover and began to drown and then was found by his mother very quickly, we were blessed, because there was a passing ambulance—a passing ambulance—who came straight in, were unable to revive the boy but kept him breathing until they got him to hospital; 24 hours later we had Daniel back. That is my nephew. He now has his own children he is looking after. It was the same with my daughter swimming in a backyard pool. She was going down for the second time when Ryan McGill jumped in the water, took Emily and pulled her out. Soon she will have her own. We were blessed.

My electorate has the most fantastic beaches, from Williamsons Beach all the way past Wilsons Prom. But what people do not realise when they come to visit these beautiful spots is they are dangerous. They are extremely dangerous, especially if you are fishing off rocks. One rogue wave can take your life away and the lives of those who are fishing with you. We put a lot of effort into trying to let people know the dangers of the beautiful beaches that we have. They are world renowned beaches, from Phillip Island right through to Ninety Mile Beach. They are amazing and they attract thousands of people. Many of those thousands of people are cared for by the lifesaving clubs in those areas.

There is not one member speaking on this who does not have a personal interest in the wellbeing of people when they are on beaches. It is not only what the sun can do to them but what the water can do to them, even to the point of people swimming at surf beaches where they are dumped unexpectedly. That is when our lifesavers come into play for people who are in danger.

But how often have you read 'Girl, 13, drowns while trying to save brother in rough surf at Williamsons Beach at Wonthaggi'? How many times this year will I read in my local papers or in the national headlines of someone dying on the beaches that are so special to us in our areas? We do everything we possibly can, and the government is giving $3.6 million towards campaigns to encourage people to understand the dangers of the surf, the beaches and the undertow at any time, so that people have the knowledge to know where the rip is, where they can swim and where the flags are. We say, 'Stay within the flags, stay within the flags, stay within the flags!' Right across this nation we say, 'Stay within the flags,' and people still swim outside the flags at uncontrolled beaches.

I recently visited the electorate around Cairns. Is that Warren Entsch's electorate?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leichhardt.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leichhardt. In the early dawn, six o'clock in the morning, all of a sudden out of the trees and car parks came these young people—and I mean hundreds of them. They were on the beach very early in the morning, training to be surf lifesavers in that particular area at Palm Cove. The dedication of the parents, the children and the instructors and the encouragement that was given were absolutely incredible. It was incredible for me to be just walking and hearing the encouragement. They went for a long swim that I could not swim nowadays. They went for a run that I could not run nowadays. I watched these brilliant young people being encouraged by older people, of my age, who are still in place instructing younger people through the generations.

Our Nippers program right across Victoria, and probably the rest of Australia—do you have Nippers programs in your area?

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Health And Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have. Our Nippers program across the nation is just amazing. The children not only learn how to swim, how to look after other people and how to do first aid; they also get the experience of combining together within the club area. It is the holistic nature of the education that they receive. So I congratulate the government for its initiative and the member for Groom for moving this motion. I especially thank everybody who participates in my surf lifesaving clubs, all the way from Phillip Island right through to Ninety Mile Beach.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians live by the water. Being in and around the water is part of our nation's culture and our identity. But regular exposure to water brings risks that can be fatal. Unfortunately, over the last year the number of fatalities around the water in Australia increased. We have actually gone backwards over the last year when it comes to preventing drownings in Australia. The Royal Life Saving report on national drownings revealed in September 2016 that the number of drownings in Australia increased from 267 deaths in 2014-15 to 280 in 2015-16. For a nation like Australia, this simply is not good enough.

As acknowledged in this motion, a quarter of all drownings occurred in inland waterways such as rivers, creeks and dams; 86 per cent of all drowning deaths were males; and, indeed, every incidence of drowning has a wider impact on families, rescuers and communities. More broadly, the impact of drowning is greatest among children under five, in coastal and inland waterways, and among those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. Alcohol and/or drugs are known to be a factor in 34 per cent of drowning deaths, and males are four times as likely to drown as females.

In my electorate of Kingsford Smith, rock fishing has proven to be a particularly deadly pastime—17 rock fishermen have died in Sydney's east over the last decade. This stretch of coastal waterway that I represent is the most dangerous in the country when it comes to rock fishing fatalities. In fact, I was walking along Maroubra Beach just last week, going out to the Malabar Headland, and there, emblazoned on the sign as you walk out to Malabar Headland, is the number 03—three rock fishing deaths had occurred right at that position over the course of the last 12 months.

Royal Life Saving estimates that 20 per cent of kids across Australia—approximately 3½ thousand—miss out on swimming lessons every year. Unfortunately this is a statistic that is getting worse. Teaching swimming and water safety to kids actually does work. It works. Analysis of drowning deaths in recent years indicates that children in the five- to 14-year age cohort are the least likely to drown of all the age cohorts, and many believe that is because they are the ones who are getting access to swimming lessons whilst they are at school. We know that teaching swimming and water safety actually works and prevents drowning deaths, particularly with kids, But we are finding in Australia, the anecdotal evidence in particular, that fewer and fewer kids are getting access to swimming lessons at school. Some schools are completely pulling out of providing swimming lessons for kids in Australia.

In some states, swimming lessons are not part of the school curriculum, and they definitely should be. These are essential skills that we need to teach our kids: how to be safe around water, how to enter and exit water, how to provide support for someone who may be in a drowning situation and, importantly, the basics of resuscitation and rescue. That is why, during the last election campaign, Labor announced that if we were elected we would provide additional funding to ensure that Australian kids were given access to swimming lessons from a young age. Our aim was to implement the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework to ensure that every child completes level 4 of the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework by the time that they complete primary school to ensure that they get that basic foundation in water safety skills for the future. We would have devoted $30 million to this program over the forward estimates.

Other speakers on the Liberal side have said that the government is devoting $3½ million to a project to increase the number of kids getting exposure to swimming lessons. It is not good enough. It is simply not enough. It is a drop in the ocean when it comes to the problem that we are facing and to the fact that, in Victoria, no kids in school get access to swimming lessons. We need a national approach. There is no national approach at the moment, and that is what Labor's policy was aimed at—ensuring that the federal government was working with the states, providing them access to an equity fund that would ensure that all kids got access to swimming lessons. Only when we do this will we see a reduction in the number of drownings.

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak this morning on the important motion of the member for Groom. While enormous effort has been put in over the last few decades, drownings continue to be a leading cause of unexpected death in Australia—280 people drowned in the year 2015-16, and 32 were school-aged children under 14 years of age. Rivers, creeks, lakes and dams were second only to beaches for recorded drownings, with 58 drownings recorded in inland waterways. Many people forget that such dangers exist even in the dry interior of Australia. New South Wales and Queensland topped the list of the states with the most fatalities—New South Wales, 96; Queensland, 66; Victoria, 43; Western Australia, 37; South Australia, 13; Tasmania, nine; Northern Territory, 14; and the ACT, two.

Laurie Lawrence had a large impact on the way we approached child drownings. In 1988, Lawrence was the Olympic swimming coach when he launched the 'Kids Alive' drowning prevention campaign to combat the problems of accidental deaths by drowning for the under-five age group. He personally and passionately worked on the subject and made the campaign a huge success. Barely any Australian under the age of 30 who would not have known the 'Kids Alive—Do the Five' mantra:

1.Fence the pool

2. Shut the gate

3.Teach your kids to swim – it’s great

4.Supervise – watch your mate and

5.Learn how to resuscitate

Unfortunately we still have these deaths.

There are dangers in the homes which families need to be vigilant about, especially with toddlers in the house. It only takes two inches—I'm showing my age—or 50 millimetres to drown a child. Buckets, toilets, sinks, wading pools and bath times always need to be supervised. Programs like this and many others across the country are critical to reducing the number of drowning deaths, and the government is committed to helping.

My brother-in-law Paul Jones drowned at the Gold Coast, aged 47. He was a big, strong swimmer and yet he was taken out by a strong rip and could not get back to shore. I was personally involved in a near drowning when I, with my brother Robert and our neighbour Tommy Murphy, went duck shooting—would you believe?—and we ended up in a terrible mess, having to drag Tommy unconscious from the lagoon. He was lucky to survive, because none of us had learnt to swim before this incident.

I feel it is important to mention this as we go into the rainy season: if there is a flood, please do not attempt to drive a car through it or walk through it or ride a horse through it. Use a boat.

I have the utmost respect for the lifesavers who give up their own time and risk their own lives to keep our beaches and people safe. In my electorate of Flynn, the lifesavers at Tannum Sands, Agnes Waters and Moore Park, like all other lifesavers, do a fantastic job in looking after your health, your children's health and the health of everyone who visits the beaches. Swimming between the flags is a must.

The federal government is providing funding of $3.6 million in 2016-17 through the National Recreation Boating Safety program, which aims to reduce the number of drowning deaths. The federal government also released the Australian Water Safety Strategy in April 2016, which aims to reduce drowning deaths by 50 per cent by 2020.

My condolences go to all of those people and families who have lost loved ones and friends through drownings.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Groom for bringing this motion to the House today. I welcome the Australian Water Safety Strategy of 2016, as we work to reduce the number of drowning related deaths. Alarmingly, there has been an increase in the number of deaths that are recorded in Australia by drowning, as the Royal Life Saving Society's national drowning report indicates. It is clear that much more needs to be done to ensure that measures are in place to increase people's awareness of water safety and to stop these needless tragedies.

Last year, 280 people died by drowning. Just last week there was a salient reminder when two little sisters—toddlers—died in a backyard pool in Logan in Queensland. This is unbelievably tragic for all of those involved—family, the medical people, the paramedics. It is a tragedy beyond belief. But do you know that the majority of drownings actually occurs on public holidays? Drownings are often associated with alcohol or drugs or a combination of both; these causes account for about 34 per cent of all drownings. Surprisingly, inland waterways are major and silent killers of people, according to the Australian Water Safety Council.

We definitely need to do more in this space to educate people not only to ensure that they are aware of the dangers but also to understand that places such as rivers, lakes, dams, irrigation channels, water tanks and creeks are not the safest place to swim because they do not have waves. According to Royal Life Saving Society Australia, in 2009-10 there were 59 drowning deaths that occurred in rivers, creeks and streams; three of whom were children under the age of five. There were also 42 people who drowned in lakes, dams and lagoons; four of whom were under the age of five. The National Injury Surveillance Unit says that for every drowning death in children there are three hospitalisations from near drowning. For every five children admitted to hospital following immersion, one child will be left with a severe and lasting neurological impairment. Simply, the flat surface of an inland waterway provides a false sense of security, in addition to tranquil waterways, which are just as dangerous as the ocean.

People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in particular comprise the largest group of drowning deaths. This poses a real need for more targeted education and assistance with our multicultural communities, helping them to not only understand but identify dangers and become more savvy when it comes to water safety. The dangers of drowning affect everybody, regardless of age, race, ability, gender and social status. Support from the government is invaluable and critical in achieving success when it comes to conducting research and the delivery of programs and services through the implementation of initiatives aimed at increasing skills associated with water safety. A combination of a growing interest in water safety and better training for our lifesavers and lifeguards is essential and something we should continually pursue.

I thank the Royal Life Saving Society Australia, Surf Life Saving Australia, AUSTSWIM, the Australian Water Safety Council and all the lifesavers and those who work to protect our communities from water-related tragedies and to keep water safety at the forefront for our community everyday. I will end with this: each year Royal Life Saving Society Australia offers a bronze medallion course here at Parliament House. I have availed myself of that, as have many other members in the past. I would encourage all members to not only participate in this debate but also show a real interest in water safety by registering to gain their bronze medallion and show that they care about water safety in Australia.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise to speak to this motion, which is very near and dear to my heart, as I am a long-term member of Surf Life Saving Queensland. In 2015-16, there were 3,660 rescues conducted by volunteer members of Surf Life Saving Queensland in Queensland waters. To put this in perspective, there were 810,855 preventative actions undertaken by members of Surf Life Saving Queensland. These rescues and preventative actions were undertaken by volunteers, by mums and dads and kids from the age of 14 up; 352,807 volunteer patrol hours were undertaken by members of Surf Life Saving Queensland. These members give up their weekends and their family time to protect members of the public who are swimming in our coastal regions.

These volunteers not only undertake aquatic rescues but have also undertaken almost 21,000 first aid treatments. The number of volunteers who are trained in first aid is almost 16,000. I pay tribute to all those men and women, including those on my own patrol group, ranging from the age of 14 to 65, who volunteer their time week after week. They do it not for money or any form of compensation other than their desire to help their fellow men and women. This is the sort of stuff people who join SLSQ hold near and dear to their hearts.

SLSQ began from humble beginnings. Their first official rescue was recorded on a Queensland beach in 1909. There are now 58 clubs, with more than 30,000 men, women and children, across this state. Since its inception, Surf Life Saving Queensland surf lifesavers and lifeguards have directly saved the lives of more than 135,000 people through in-water rescues, and they have educated in excess of 10 million people about surf and aquatic safety through targeted and grassroots community awareness programs.

Surf Life Saving Queensland is directly affiliated with and is a part of Surf Life Saving Australia and the International Life Saving Federation. As a not-for-profit, SLSQ relies heavily on community support and donations to continue its vital work both on and off Queensland beaches. Surf Life Saving Queensland is built on one fundamental principle, and that is to save lives. Its organisation encompasses several diverse arms: lifesaving and lifeguard services, community education, membership services, surf sports, fundraising, commercial training, and member training—all supporting that one overarching principle and purpose, and that is to save lives on Queensland beaches. Queensland's main coastline is extensive, and I pay tribute to the men, women and children who continue to protect Queenslanders and Australians all over the country from drowning in surf.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every drowning death in Australia is a preventable tragedy that impacts loved ones and hurts communities. Australians, living in a country girt by sea, have long loved beaches, rivers and pools. We are a country drawn to the water, with a long history of success as swimmers and sailors and a deep appreciation of summer, salt water and fresh water. Names like Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe and Jessica Watson hold special resonance in the Australian psyche—world-beaters who have made Australia proud in or on the water. We as a country are blessed with some of the best beaches, rivers and recreational facilities in the world, and we are rightly proud of our connection to the water. You can hear it in our language: Banjo Paterson poems set by rivers, Tim Winton books set by beaches and colloquialisms like 'not all oars in the water'. We know and love our island nation, and rightly so.

It is not hard to see why Australians are drawn to the water and subsequently why universal water safety is so important to the Australian community. Australia is an increasingly diverse country, and not everyone has the swimming ability to match their enthusiasm. In some tragic cases, some children do not have the supervision that they need. I am a keen swimmer myself and look forward to swimming in several open water races in my electorate this summer. But even strong swimmers know that rips and unexpected changes in the surf or the current can place any swimmer at risk.

I recall attending an event a few days after Australia Day 2015 which was organised by some of the dedicated volunteers of the Brighton Life Saving Club and supported by Surf Life Saving Australia, among others. These volunteers organised for a few dozen new Australians with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, mostly from Afghanistan and South Sudan, to travel from their homes in the city of greater Dandenong to the Brighton Life Saving Club to attend swimming and water safety classes. Many of these new Australians were my constituents and in talking to them I learned that many had never set foot in the water. This inspiring event introduced these Australians to the enjoyment of swimming under the supervision of trained lifesavers. This is an example of our great multicultural community working in hand with one of Melbourne's great lifesaving clubs to reduce the number of drownings among the Australian community, and it is an example that I would like to see replicated around the country. There are, tragically, many ways that Australians have drowned in the past year, but many of these deaths could have been prevented—in particular, boating deaths where lifejackets were not worn.

Life-saving clubs, AUSTSWIM and the Australian Water Safety Council do so much to reduce the number of drowning deaths and Labor congratulates these organisations on their tireless work. The sad fact is that 280 people drowned in 2015-16 and many Australians would be surprised that three-quarters of drowning incidents occurred during activities other than swimming. Less than half of drowning deaths were in the ocean, with 21 per cent of drownings in rivers, creeks and dams, 16 per cent from boating accidents and 14 per cent from falls into water. Tragically, 10 people drowned in baths in 2015-16.

We have come a long way over the past few decades when it comes to water safety. Secure fences are now standard features of backyard pools and children's water safety is taught near universally and early, but there are many other ways Australians have not moved with the times and with the research. Too many Australians still drink and swim, too many swim alone and too many Australians do not wear a lifejacket when boating. It is my hope than in just a few years these habits of some Australians will be gone and looked back on with the same disbelief with which we would now look at fenceless pools. Labor commends the work of Australia's peak water safety bodies: Royal Life Saving, Surf Life Saving, AUSTSWIM and the Australian Water Safety Council. Each of these bodies has our ongoing support to reduce the number of drownings in Australia. We are a nation that loves water and a nation of the best swimmers in the world, but we can be a nation with the safest water culture as well. Labor supports any move by the government to make this happen.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.