After huge success in 2021, National Foundation of Australia-China Relations (NFACR) and ACYA (Australia-China Youth Association), with the support of Royal Life Saving and Surf Life Saving NSW, delivered the Beach Smarts for Life Program for a second consecutive year.

The free program is the perfect opportunity for our Chinese international student’s community to learn water safety skills so that we can all enjoy the beach together safely this summer. The program ran over 2 weeks at Coogee Surf Life Saving Club.

The event consisted of

· Basic CPR traning

· In-Water Activiies

· Beach Safety session

· Lunch and networking

For Royal Life Saving, the highlight of the event was being able to provide an in-land water safety talk and CPR awareness training in Mandarin, with all presentation materials translated into Chinese for the participants.

In in additional collaboration with Surf Life Saving NSW, Department of Primary Industries, NSW Maritime and Sutherland Shire Council delivered a water Safety event at Gunnamatta Park last month. Together the respective parties delivered practical safety tips and information on how to enjoy the water and associated activities safely.

Data from the Western Sydney Drowning Report identified over a 10 year average, 57% of drowning deaths being persons born overseas, with the Chinese community being one of the highest populations represented in this group. Programs such as the Beach Smarts for Life are essential to the ongoing education of our multicultural communities. At Royal Life Saving it is our goal to ensure all Australians can enjoy the water safely and understand the conditions and risks of the many different aquatic environments both on the coast, in our aquatic facilities and backyard pools, and our inland waterways.

For further information on our water safety programs and campaigns for Cultural and Linguistic Diverse Communities, please contact our Cultural Engagement Coordinator Ying Fan: yingfan@royalnsw.com.au