In Australia there were 357 drowning deaths over the past 12 months; 27 per cent higher than the 10-year average, according to Royal Life Saving Australia’s National Drowning Report for 2025. People born overseas accounted for 32 per cent of this total.
Ms Stacey Pidgeon works with RLSA and is a PhD candidate at James Cook University researching drowning prevention strategies for migrants in Australia. Her research found that swimming programs for migrants were successful when offering single-gender programs, providing culturally appropriate swimwear, having bilingual teachers and low participation fees.
Over one-third of drowning fatalities are of people born overseas. This aligns with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that shows approximately 31 per cent of the Australian population was born overseas, with England, India, China and New Zealand being the countries of birth with the largest populations in Australia.
Royal Life Saving Western Australia provides multicultural Swim and Survive programs for adults and children across the state. It has a subsidised price of $65 in the Perth Metropolitan area, $50 for regional areas and $30 for children.
Ms Pidgeon said RLSWA, Swim and Survive program partners worked together to subsidise the full cost of the program, so people only had to pay roughly 50 per cent of what they would normally pay.
The programs run for eight weeks and include eight 40-minute lessons.
Most of the women-only programs are in closed-pool sessions, meaning facilities are only open to women. They are sometimes held out of normal operating hours. None of the male-only programs are closed-pool sessions.
Ms Pidgeon said: “There is always more demand for adult programs, especially female-only and male-only classes, unfortunately it does come down to availability of pool space, and ensuring availability of appropriate staff is challenging.”
Currently, women-only programs are held in six locations in WA. Five in the Perth Metropolitan area and the other in Bunbury. Male-only programs are held at five areas in WA, four in the Perth Metropolitan area and one in Mandurah. A multicultural adult program is offered at South Hedland and is not restricted by gender.
RLSA’s report found that 81 per cent of all drowning deaths were male.
Reducing adult drownings
People aged 25–65+ accounted for over two thirds of the 357 drownings, according to RLSA. However, experts said they are becoming harder to access due to a shortage of qualified swimming instructors for all adult lessons.
Anneke Hall-Stickland is a swimming instructor for VacSwim, a government funded program in WA for children. Asked if she would teach adults how to swim, she said: “I’m not opposed to the idea, but I would require training because a lot of the way that kids learn is by playing fun games and through imaginary stories.”
Miss Hall-Stickland said it was important to provide adult swimming lessons, as everyone had the right to know how to swim, and it was good that there was demand for them, because it meant that the people understood the dangers.
She pointed to the cost of the training required to become qualified to teach adults as a potential barrier limiting the availability of instructors. AUSTSWIM’s Teacher of Adults course costs $280.
How to swim safe
RSLA’s five key messages for swim safety this summer are:
- Always actively supervise children around water and be within arm’s reach of young children at all times.
- Wear a lifejacket when boating and fishing.
- Go to a patrolled beach and swim between the red and yellow flags.
- Don’t swim alone, go with a friend just in case something does happen, you can raise the alarm.
- Avoid alcohol around water.
RLSA also has educational infographics in 23 different languages on how to swim safely on its website.
More information and enrolment details in multicultural swimming programs in WA can be found on the RLSWA website.
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