Published 7 August 2025
Benchmarking for Better Outcomes: Royal Life Saving Australia and CERM PI® Support Aquatic Facilities to Strengthen Insights and Impact
Royal Life Saving Australia and CERM PI® at the University of South Australia have formalised a national partnership to strengthen benchmarking and insight generation across Australia’s aquatic and leisure sector - supporting community safety, wellbeing and impact by lifting industry standards.
As a leading drowning prevention and water safety organisation, Royal Life Saving Australia has delivered landmark research into aquatic infrastructure, workforce capability, facility safety and social impact. These reports have influenced national policy, public investment and industry practice.
For over 30 years, CERM PI® has provided trusted, independent performance benchmarking for aquatic, sport and leisure centres. Its annual Operational Management (OM) Benchmarking Survey offers actionable insights into visitation, financial sustainability, service delivery and customer experience.
This partnership brings together the data, analytics and research strengths of both organisations to drive greater outcomes for communities and the aquatic and leisure sector - improving safety, performance, and public value through evidence-based insight.
As part of the 2025 survey, new indicators have been introduced to assess facilities’ contributions to swimming and water safety outcomes, including learn-to-swim delivery and benchmarking.
“Partnering with CERM PI® provides the dual benefit of ensuring that local facility insights translate into national advocacy, investment and standards improvement while enabling greater opportunities for sector stakeholders to collaborate into the strengthening of CERM PI’s benchmarking process,” said RJ Houston, General Manager – Capability & Industry at Royal Life Saving Australia.
“We strongly encourage facilities to participate and later provide feedback on how we can continue to elevate the sector and streamline data collection across the industry.”
Professor Ian O’Boyle, Director of CERM PI®, added:
“Every facility that participates strengthens our collective understanding of sector performance and supports more equitable access to aquatic experiences. This partnership lowers barriers to participation and connects that data to sector-wide development.”
Why Participate?
Participation enables aquatic facility operators to:
- Benchmark against national performance standards;
- Identify operational strengths and areas for refinement;
- Contribute to a stronger, evidence-based sector.
How to participate
The 2025 survey is open until 15 December 2025, and costs $245 per facility (excl. GST).
Participating facilities will receive a tailored benchmarking report and the 2025 National Benchmarks Bulletin (valued at $649).
Facilities can register to participate here: https://doit.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eCMeQNB1saHXdxY
Scholarships for Remote Facilities
Royal Life Saving Australia is offering full scholarships for up to 10 eligible regional or low-resource facilities.
Eligibility:
- Located ≥200km from a capital city;
- Fewer than 40,000 annual visits;
- Priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities without significant government or mining-sector funding.
To apply: email rjhouston@rlssa.org.au or cermpi@unisa.edu.au with the subject CERM PI Scholarship Application and detail your facility name, location and ownership / management model.
More info:royallifesaving.com.au | unisa.edu.au/research/cermpi| cermpi@unisa.edu.au
