9/9/2020
Royal Life Saving Teams Focus on Community
News from Royal Life Saving State and Territory Offices around Australia – a quick round up of just a few of the programs and initiatives taking place around the country.
Spring has sprung, and with that Royal Life Saving teams are looking forward to finally being able to implement their plans to reach out to everyone in the community – whether that be online or face-to-face. As well as our community programs, Royal Life Saving continues to support industry through training and risk management services.
This month's round up shows the breadth of our programs – catering for young and old, those relatively recently arrived in the country, as well as inclusive classes for those who might need an extra helping hand. All to ensure that no one should miss out on water safety education and the joys of being able to swim.
For more information about what is going on in your local area, contact your local State or Territory Office.
Australian Capital Territory
Royal Life Saving ACT is looking forward to recommencing its Swim 4 Life program in the September school holidays! Swim 4 Life is Canberra’s dedicated Swim and Survive program for children at risk of missing out on learning to swim. This program is proudly sponsored by Sport Australia’s Move It AUS campaign, aimed at getting Australians active.
Swim 4 Life in September will give up to 120 children the opportunity to get active and learn vital water safety skills while they’re at it! Registration is via nominations submitted from Royal Life Saving ACT’s local community partners such as ACT Community Services, Uniting Church and The Smith Family. These groups nominate the children who are most at risk of missing out on quality water safety education programs.
Contact Royal Life Saving ACT via email act@royalact.com.au to find out more.
New South Wales
Facility design assessments. The Royal Life Saving New South Wales Aquatic Risk Services team has been busy assisting councils, architects and builders with a large number of Facility Design Assessments. This is great news for the aquatic industry as councils and private enterprise push ahead with the development and re-development of a number of pools and aquatic facilities.
The team's work involves offering advice on compliance and providing recommendations to eliminate or manage risk during the design and development phase of such projects.
Aquatic Academy Denistone East Opening Soon. The new Royal Life Saving Aquatic Academy Denistone East is on track to open in November this year. This new facility will include a state-of-the-art pool, water filtration systems and ancillary facilities to be used for learn to swim, training and education programs. Subscribe here for updates and further information.
Find out more about Royal Life Saving New South Wales and its services and programs at https://royalnsw.com.au
Northern Territory
Royal Life Saving Northern Territory’s mascot Boof has been out visiting the preschools and childcare centres throughout the NT, including children at Alice Springs Childcare on 18 August 2020 to teach children about water safety. It was great to see all the children having fun with Boof, singing and dancing to the Water Safety Song!
The team in NT also celebrated Senior’s Month in August with some Water Exercise Tropical Style (WETS) and Grey Medallion sessions helping seniors to keep fit and learning about water safety and rescues. In addition, the team were delighted to welcome some new faces to their Pool Lifesaving programs which commenced in both Darwin and Alice Springs.
Royal Life Saving NT is also excited to announce that Water Safety Week is back! Running from 20 to 26 September 2020, the team has a packed week of FREE activities across the Northern Territory.
Find out more about what’s on offer in NT at https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/nt
Queensland
Royal Life Saving Queensland is offering a special deal for First Aid courses booked on 11 and 12 September 2020 to celebrate this year's World First Aid Day which takes place on 12 September 2020. This gives participants 50% off the price of any First Aid course up until 1 December 2020. People must register/email/contact Royal Life Saving Queensland on 11 or 12 September 2020. Normal course terms and conditions to apply.
Over the past few weeks, the team in Queensland has been running Cert III and Cert IV in Swimming Pool & Spa Service Courses for aquatic industry facility operators and council employees. Anyone interested in undertaking this course should contact Royal Life Saving QLD via their website at www.rlssq.com.au
South Australia
Royal Life Saving SA has secured a contract to provide all CPR and First Aid training for South Australia Police (SAPOL).
The team continues to provide inclusive water safety lessons for children with autism every Sunday and are excited to announce that the Royal Life Saving SA Somali Woman program will be starting on 20th September 2020.
Find out more about Royal Life Saving South Australia’s work at https://www.royallifesavingsa.com.au/
Tasmania
As aquatic centres around Tasmania start to reopen, Royal Life Saving Tasmania is working to organise a learn to swim program for children in 'out of home care'. This initiative, funded by the Tasmanian State Government commenced in 2019 and has received further funding for 2020. This means almost 300 children in care will have the opportunity to develop sound swimming and lifesaving skills.
Find out more about Royal Life Saving Tasmania’s work at https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/tas
Victoria
Life Saving Victoria (LSV) has been heartened to see so many in the community band together in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been reflected in a significant increase in membership of its lifesaving clubs and the aquatic industry connecting to LSV, with people going above and beyond to come up with solutions to some of the challenges thrown up by the pandemic. While the pandemic is not over, taking stock of the efforts and achievements of those in the community in such unprecedented times is important, and these are showcased in this video. Check out the full story at http://blog.lsv.com.au/2020/08/24/what-we-have-done-covid19/
Learning at home opportunities have been an important part of LSV’s response to the pandemic, and some of the highlights of the new free offerings for members, aquatic industry professionals and the public can be found at http://blog.lsv.com.au/2020/08/26/online-learning-at-lsv/
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Western Australia
Amazing survival story as parents urged to enrol children in Swim and Survive lessons. The Hayter family had a very close call in January last year, when two of their sons, 6-year-old Kian and 4-year-old Micah, were involved in a non-fatal drowning incident at the Big Brook Dam in WA’s south-west. The family was picnicking at the busy dam when the boys got out of their depth. Kian, despite having only basic swimming skills, went to rescue his brother, almost drowning himself. Micah had to be revived by their father on shore.
Royal Life Saving WA approached parents Troy and Newsha to tell their story as new benchmarks were released for children's swimming and water safety skills by Royal Life Saving Australia and other industry partners. The Hayters described how they enrolled their children in classes at Swan Active Beechboro, a Royal Life Saving Endorsed Swim School, to ensure they are able to obtain these vital skills. Read the full story at https://royallifesavingwa.com.au/news/community/amazing-survival-story-as-parents-urged--to-enrol-children-in-swim-and-survive-lessons
New professional development to help prevent toddler drowning. Royal Life Saving WA’s Keep Watch team has created a new Online Professional Development session for those working with parents who have young children. Drowning remains the leading cause of preventable death in children under the age of five in Australia, with an average of 30 babies and toddlers drowning in Australia each year for the past 10 years.
This professional development session aims to assist child health nurses and others who work with families to have the knowledge and skills to discuss drowning prevention and water safety with parents they work with, and is readily accessible on the Royal Life Saving WA website. Find out more at https://royallifesavingwa.com.au/news/community/new-pd-to-help-prevent-toddler-drowning
