An alarming new report from Surf Life Saving Australia reveals more people are drowning in Australia than ever before.
In the past 12 months, the number of coastal drowning deaths sky-rocketed to 150, which is a 22% increase from last year and 18% higher than the 10-year average.
In the same period, 16 million people visited the country’s coastline.
The National Coastal Safety Report reveals that lifeguards performed 8,857 rescues across the country’s coastline, as well as more than 2.4 million preventative actions to keep beachgoers safe – which is an increase of 29% from last season.
The figures for Queensland are much better than the national average, with the state recording 23 coastal drowning deaths.
That’s a 15% decrease from last year and the 10-year average.
On the Gold Coast, three lives were lost.
A shocking 70% of beach drowning deaths in Queensland occurred less than one kilometre away from Surf Life Saving services.
Surf Life Saving Australia CEO Adam Weir says surf lifesavers are committed to keeping people safe at the beach but urged all Australians to make surf safety a personal priority.
“We are deeply saddened by the drowning numbers this past year, each one was preventable and one death is one too many. The numbers are alarming and we encourage everyone to take notice,” Mr Weir says.
“I am however incredibly proud of the work of our volunteer surf lifesavers across the country who performed a record number of preventative actions which has ensured this drowning number was not significantly higher. Never before have our surf lifesavers been asked to do so much. Our research shows that our efforts represent a $9.5 billion dollar value to the community.”
The report also highlights that men were 6.5 times more likely to drown than women, accounting for a staggering 86% of the coastal drowning burden.
