Published 7 October 2022

A new forum to tackle drowning in the Riverland / Mildura region has been announced by Royal Life Saving Society – Australia today following analysis which identified the area as a drowning blackspot.

The forum is seeking interested people in the Riverland, Mildura and Wentworth areas to work on a new water safety plan designed to specifically to reduce the high drowning incidence. In the ten years to 2020/21, 21 people drowned in the area, 19 of whom died in the River Murray.

More than half were within five kilometres of home when they died, and almost 30 per cent were aged between 18 and 24 years old. Almost all those who drowned were males.

There are two opportunities for local residents to get involved in the development of the plan: an online water safety survey and a two-day roundtable in Renmark, South Australia on 22-23 November 2022.

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Royal Life Saving - South Australia, Jake Culkin said the water safety plan needed to reflect the realities of regional and inland communities.

“Regional communities, particularly inland locations, face unique challenges compared to metro and coastal locations,” Mr Culkin said.

“Inland waterways like the River Murray have completely different hazards, usage and activities occurring. As an example, houseboats are enormously popular on the Murray, which is very different to a city setting.

“We want to ensure that the community has oversight and ownership of activities to improve the safety of the people living in this area and its visitors.”

The Riverland area joins a handful of areas that are developing local water safety plans as recommended by the Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030.

About the initiative

The initiative seeks to:

• Gather and report on intelligence and data relating to water safety, drowning and water activities in the region
• Identify key opportunities to improve drowning prevention and water safety in the region
• Facilitate common understanding of local drowning and water safety issues, research, data, solutions
• Facilitate common agreement of intention to develop a local water safety strategy
• Workshop collective solutions / actions
• Collate and synthesise actions into a local water safety strategy / drowning prevention plan

Complete the survey

To help capture information about specific water safety issues in the region, residents are invited to take part in a community survey on water safety. Completing the survey, which was developed by Royal Life Saving, James Cook University and the University of New South Wales, will put you in the draw for one of three $100 VISA cards.

The survey is available at: Complete the Survey

To be eligible for the draw, you must be aged 18 years or older and live within one of the following areas:

• South Australia - Barmera, Berri, Blanchetown, Glossop, Kingston on Murray, Loveday, Loxton, Lyrup, Paringa, Renmark, Waikerie
• Victoria - Buronga, Mildura
• NSW - Wentworth

Roundtable

Royal Life Saving is extending the invitation to all agencies, organisations and individuals with an interest and/or responsibility for community and water safety in this region to participate in a two-day roundtable.

To express an interest in attending, please complete the below Expression of Interest Form.

and return to: aquatics@rlssa.org.au

The Expression of Interest process closes COB Friday, November 10, 2022