Multicultural communities are being taught a simple but effective water safety technique to help prevent drownings this summer.
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The message: float to survive.
The program was unveiled in western Sydney's diverse Blacktown region to help equip swimmers with survival skills to use in pools, beaches, lakes and creeks.
The initiative is in response to the 2019 Multicultural Water Safety Forum findings that water safety messages were hard for culturally diverse communities to understand.
One in four drownings in Australia involved people born overseas, Blacktown City mayor Tony Bleasdale said.
"Many of these people come from the culturally and linguistically diverse communities of western Sydney and will visit many aquatic environments this summer," he said.
Bondi Rescue's Bruce "Hoppo" Hopkins launched the program in collaboration with the Blacktown City and Randwick councils.
The lifeguard is contributing more than 30 years of live-saving experience to the program that was successfully trialled last summer in Sydney's Randwick and Waverley areas.
Research following the trial showed 90 per cent of respondents thought the techniques were easy to grasp.
Four in five participants said the information needed to be spread across the country.
"The more we promote 'float to survive' in communities, the more equipped people will be if they get into trouble when in the water," Randwick mayor Philip Veitch said.
Blacktown is the first in-land area to launch the program in the lead up to summer.
Mr Bleasdale said the simplicity of the safety message was crucial.
"Blacktown is a proud culturally and linguistically diverse city, with over 180 languages spoken," he said.
"For us, the importance of a simple, yet clear water safety message for all aquatic environments for our community is huge."
Australian Associated Press
