Surf Life Saving South Australia receives $13 million to strengthen water safety

January 25, 2022

In a move that further strengthens water safety at South Australian beaches, the State Government is supporting Surf Life Saving South Australia (SLSSA) with funding of $12.9 million to significantly increase operational capacity and secure five crucial club redevelopments.

The redevelopments – scheduled over the next four years – include Normanville (2022-23), Whyalla and Lonsdale (2023-24), Robe (2024-25) and Moana (2025-26).

SLSSA Chief Executive, Damien Marangon notes “this lift in operational funding and the extension of club redevelopment funding, ensures that our dedicated volunteers are able to remain rescue ready, with world leading lifesaving facilities and equipment to support them to protect beachgoers.”

“We’ve unfortunately already seen too many drowning tragedies across our coast this summer, so having this additional funding means we can continue to support our clubs and volunteers patrolling our beaches, educate more people in our water safety programs and strive towards our vision of zero preventable deaths in SA waters.”

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said lifesaving activity and first-aid responses in South Australia had increased by more than 77% between 2018 and 2021.

Premier Marshall advises “there are approximately 9,000 dedicated SLSSA volunteers who risk their wellbeing to protect South Australians at our beaches during summer and we know their brave actions save lives.

“Supporting SLSSA with $12.9 million in funding is how we strengthen these incredible lifesaving services well into the future.

“Boosting SLSSA’s operational funding means they have more resources at their disposal to respond to water emergencies and support their volunteers.

“We’re also funding critical club redevelopments that will ensure volunteers have modern, fit-for-purpose facilities that allow them to undertake patrols, important training and education programs.”

South Australian Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Corey Wingard, said today’s announcement builds on the South Australian Government’s already strong partnership with SLSSA, and follows an almost $5 million investment in the completed redevelopment of Port Elliot Surf Life Saving Club – the biggest in SA history.

Minister Wingard adds “the pivotal roles our SLSSA volunteers perform cannot be overstated enough, from patrolling our coastlines to teaching children how to swim through the hugely popular VACSWIM program.

“Not only does the initiative promote a healthy active lifestyle for children, but more than 800 instructor jobs in the aquatics industry are up for grabs through the program in a win-win for the community.”

SLSSA President, Kevin Watkins, said volunteers performed 11,355 preventative actions in 2018 compared to 20,143 last year.

“Our volunteers do an incredible job saving lives on our beaches. Last year alone, 154 lives were saved because a Surf Life Saver was on patrol and able to rescue them,” Watkins said.

“The more than 80,000 volunteer patrol hours that they performed, across the 21 Surf Life Saving Clubs in SA, provide an invaluable service to the public, to help keep them safe.”

The latest investment follows the delivery of the South Australian Government’s 2018 election commitments, including $630,000 over four years to provide $5,000 to each SLSSA club each year for upgrades to key rescue and emergency response equipment and $190,000 for drones to enhance shark surveillance capability.

2nd March 2016 - Surf Life Saving South Australia launches training academy to boost standards

24th January 2022 - Surf Life Saving WA holds successful second annual Rookie Lifeguard Program

20th December 2021 - Surf Life Saving NSW online training course records high level of completion

10th December 2021 - Australian Surf Life Saving Championships to swap locations in 2022 and 2023

1st December 2021 - Surf Life Saving NSW’s education program goes virtual for the first time

10th November 2021 - Lotterywest funding contributes to Margaret River Surf Life Saving Development Centre

8th November 2021 - Sydney’s Northern Beaches to host 2022 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships

9th September 2021 - Partnership between DHL Express Australia and Surf Life Saving Australia extended to 2024

20th August 2021 - Lotterywest grant contributes to Swanbourne Nedlands Surf Life Saving Club upgrades

7th June 2021 - NSW Surf Life Saving Clubs receive funding boost to support facility upgrades

25th March 2021 - Surf Life Saving Queensland receive $36 million funding commitment

20th February 2021 - Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledges extra funds for Surf Life Saving across Australia

12th November 2020 - Surf Life Saving Australia launches new volunteer recruitment campaign

1st September 2020 - New report shows Surf Life Saving worth $6.5 billion annually to Australian community

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