Plea for water safety education amid horror spate of drownings

Victorians are being urged to take care around waterways as temperatures soar while calls grow for water safety education for migrant communities.

Multicultural leaders have called for more proactive educational resources to be given to migrant communities in a bid to keep them safe around water.

The pleas come in the wake of a spate of horror drownings and near misses across the state, as Victorians head to beaches in droves to cool off.

Since Christmas Day, lifeguards have carried out more than 120 water rescues at patrolled locations across the state.

Life Saving Victoria on Saturday urged swimmers to take caution around waterways, with temperatures set to reach a top of 34C on New Year’s Day.

State agency commander Kane Treloar warned those entering the water to be vigilant to avoid further heartbreak.

“While holidays are a time people are eager to relax, the one thing you can never relax on is water safety,” Mr Treloar said.

“Despite our best efforts and planning, we can’t be everywhere at once.

“At the end of the day, the onus for safety lies with the individual, and it’s up to each person to make safe decisions aroundwater.”

Victorians are being urged to be vigilant to prevent heartbreak as drownings surge. Picture: Jason Edwards

Youth Activating Youth chief executive and multicultural leader Ahmed Hassan said the summer period highlighted the importance of swimming skills.

“It’s absolutely vital that everyone has swimming lessons, especially those who don’t know how to swim, even if they’re at an adult age,” he said.

“More people now than ever need to learn about water safety and tips of what to do in dangerous events and difficult circumstances. People need to not feel ashamed but instead come forward and learn water safety.

“There needs to be more advertising and targeted campaigns. They need to be delivered through community groups and organisations.

“There also needs to be practical ways of implementing these initiatives through real life lessons and classes at the beach or pool.”

Australian Intercultural Society executive director Ahmet Keskin said more definitely could be done, including delivering flyers about water safety in different languages.

Since Christmas Day, lifeguards have conducted more than 120 water rescues at patrolled locations across the state.

“It would be great if an agency or the government put out an instructional video that was easy to dub in different languages on water safety — like what you see on a plane,” he said.

“A lot of people from multicultural communities get their information from local radio and TV stations and newspapers.

“It would be good to reach out to school communities that have a lot of multicultural students and reach out to parents through newsletters.”

Research conducted previously by Life Saving Victoria suggested 150,000 students enrolled in swimming lessons, on average, each week in Victoria.

The Herald Sun sought data from the Andrews government about how many primary aged students participated in school swimming programs, amid concerns there had been a drop during Covid.

Mr Treloar warned New Year’s Day and Monday’s public holiday will be of particular concern for authorities.

There were 22 fatal drownings from July 1 to December 27, including five-year-old Alison Johns at Lake Nagambie on Tuesday.