Men 77pc of deaths as drownings rise at alarming rate

Experts says some typically male behaviour could explain why a fatal trend on the state’s beaches could be hitting one sex hardest.

An Adelaide researcher is partnering with the nation’s peak water safety and surf rescue organisation in “one of the worst drowning years ever” to try and reduce the number of males losing their lives in the water.

Professor Murray Drummond, who heads up Flinders University’s Sport, Health, Activity, Performance and Exercise (SHAPE) research centre said Australian men were drowning “at alarming rates”.

“This summer is no exception … this has been one of the worst drowning years ever,” he said.

Patrols search for a missing male swimmer. Picture: Gary Juleff

“Drowning is a dominant yet preventable public health concern with males most at risk in Australian coastal and inland waterways … Australia recorded 281 drowning deaths in 2022-23 and 77 per cent of those were male.”

When focused on coastal areas, that statistic is worse with 82 per cent of the year’s 125 drowning deaths male.

Prof Drummond, who been involved with local surf life saving for many years, said the trend had been consistent for the past decade with “masculinised, male-oriented behaviours” such as risk-taking, peer approval, disregard for injury and mortality at the core of the problem.

Professor Murray Drummond is concerned by the ‘alarming rates’ of male drownings in Australia. Picture: Morgan Sette

Dan Cojocea was swimming with two of his four children, aged between nine and 12, when he was pulled into a rip near Port Lincoln early this month. Picture: Supplied by Friend

“There is a whole bunch of different things, not reading signs, cliff jumping, not swimming between the flags, not watching weather, skylarking, drinking while fishing or on boats, drug-taking … fishing closely in big wave zones such as Waitpinga and rock fishermen who don’t have harnesses or don’t have personal flotation devices.

“What we’ve seen recently as well is, if kids get into trouble it is the father who jumps in to save the children, which is a natural reaction … (but) there are a number of situations where the father drowns himself as a consequence of trying to save the kids.”

The plan is to work with Surf Life Saving Australia and its state-based organisations to come up with practical solutions, including creating targeted campaigns for different cohorts of males, such as those aged 15 to 24 as well as new arrivals and tourists.

A chopper searching for a missing swimmer. Picture: Gary Juleff

“(There are) significant social, emotional, and economic costs to society, which has been estimated at $1.24 billion annually,” Prof Drummond said.

“It is not just deaths but also non-fatal drownings; we are using a huge amount of resources to save these people while surf lifesavers are being placed in precarious situations.

“Education is clearly the key but what we are now doing is just not resonating … the statistics are showing current resources are not working,” he said.