Published 24 November 2022

More multicultural communities can now access vital water safety information, with the expansion of Royal Life Saving’s ‘Make safe decisions around water’ campaign.

With summer being the highest risk time for drowning deaths, resources have been added in Ukrainian, Farsi, Hazaragi and Pashto to make sure people in these communities, particularly new arrivals from the Ukraine and Afghanistan, have access to information so they can enjoy the water safely, wherever they are in Australia.

Visual and audio resources are freely available in 14 different languages: Arabic; Bengali; Burmese; Dari; Farsi (Persian); Hazaragi; Hindi; Korean; Kurdish (Kurmanji); Nepali; Pashto; Simplified Chinese; Swahili; Ukrainian; Vietnamese; in addition to plain English.

The Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report for 2021/22 reported 339 people died of drowning across Australia. This is the highest number of drowning deaths in 20 years. More than 80 per cent of drowning deaths are men.

Royal Life Saving Chief Executive Officer, Justin Scarr said the resources were informed and co-designed by the community, to raise awareness of how to stay safe around the water when swimming, fishing and boating the summer.

“Tragically we see too many drownings of people from multicultural backgrounds. Every drowning is a heartbreaking loss to a family and the wider community,” Mr Scarr said.

“With summer coming up, we expect many people to travel to be with friends and family and may be visiting locations that are unfamiliar to them or are at isolated or remote locations. We encourage people, especially men, to think about how they can make safe decisions when swimming, fishing and boating.”

In the past decade, 725 people drowned in Australia who were born in another country. Most commonly people lost their lives at rivers/creeks, beaches or around rocks, when swimming, rock fishing or from an unintentional fall into water.

Men from multicultural backgrounds may be at further risk of drowning due to limited experience and knowledge around Australian waterways, and lack of swimming and water safety skills.

Multicultural communities are a priority population in The Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030 for drowning prevention, with people born overseas accounting for about 30 per cent of all drowning deaths and 49 per cent of the Australia population being born overseas or having at least one parent who was, and 21 per cent speaking a language other than English at home.

“We know that communities are embracing the Australian culture of being in, on and around water, but some adults come to Australia without the essential knowledge and skills to keep themselves and others safe around water,” Mr Scarr said.

“Some people may never have been in the water before or visited a public swimming pool. Others have a fear of water and of drowning.

“We worked very closely with community groups, water safety stakeholders and community leaders to make sure the safety messages address their needs and concerns.”

Royal Life Saving is urging multicultural communities to make safe decisions around water this summer.

Follow these five tips to enjoy the water safely:

• Don’t go alone
• Always wear a lifejacket
• Don’t drink alcohol
• Always watch your children
• Learn swimming and water safety

For more information about Royal Life Saving and to access these community resources in all 14 languages, visit https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/stay-safe-active/communities/multicultural-communities/resources-by-language