Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2018

Last month, Royal Life Saving Society Australia released their annual National Drowning Report 2018. There has been some wonderful progress in reducing drowning deaths, but there is still a long way to go. Here is a breakdown of the findings.

​We are pleased to share the RLSS Australia’s findings that there has been a 14% reduction in drowning deaths compared to last year. Overall, there were 249 drowning deaths in Australia between 1st July 2017 and 30th June 2018, however this figure is 249 drowning deaths too many.

According to the latest report, there was a 38% reduction in drowning of children under the age of five, compared to last year. However, children aged under 5 years of age are still at the highest risk of drowning. For this age group, home pools are the main location of drowning deaths. Many factors were identified as contributing to these statistics, however one reason stands out. Looking at data from the past 15 years, supervision was completely absent in 64% of drownings.

Royal Life Saving Society Australia also reported that the warmer weather sees more drowning deaths than any other time of year. The 3 months of Summer alone saw almost half (42%) of all drowning deaths.

As we continue towards these summer months, we urge parents and carers to remember that although swimming lessons are an important aspect of safer swimming, swimming lessons alone do not prevent drowning. Active supervision is the best form of ensuring a safer environment for your children to play, learn and grow.

Author: Josephine Moss (Swim School Coordinator)