A new report from Royal Life Saving Society has revealed that 965 children aged 0-4 years drowned in Australia between 1 July 1993 and 30 June 2018. Accidental falls into water were recorded as the leading activity resulting in drowning.
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Summer is just around the corner which means many more families will be spending time around the pool and other waterways to cool off.
Royal Life Saving has launched its Keep Watch campaign, urging parents and carers to supervise children at all times around water.
A lapse in adult supervision was the major risk factor in 100 per cent of toddler drowning deaths, according to the report.
“It can only take a few moments for a child to slip away unnoticed, fall into the water and drown”, CEO at Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, Justin Scarr, said.
“Distractions like browsing social media on your phone, attending to another child, or ducking inside to grab something can have tragic consequences if a toddler is left unattended by water.”
Swimming pools are the leading location for drowning deaths among young children in Australia, accounting for 52 per cent of all drowning deaths (2002/03 – 2017/18).
Mr Scarr said preventing accidental drowning required multiple layers of protection.
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“Active supervision is the best protection against child drowning, however kids can be quick and hard to keep up with so it’s vital to fence pools and spas to prevent children gaining access,” he said.
The report has also revealed that for every fatal drowning there were an estimated 7.6 non-fatal drowning incidents resulting in hospitalisation.
That is approximately 7,361 children who suffered a non-fatal drowning over the last 25 years, many live with a permanent disability as a result.
“These figures are horrifying, and while we have seen the rate of unintentional fatal drowning among children under five decline by 67 per cent, it is still unacceptably high,” Mr Scarr said.
“Such reductions have been possible due to a concerted effort in areas such as government policy and enforcement, public awareness and education programs such as Keep Watch, advocacy and research.”
Royal Life Saving research showed a reduction in the five-year average child drowning rate from 4.35 per 100,000 population between 1993/94 and 1997/98 to 1.14 per 100,000 population in 2017/18.
“If the rate of drowning we had twenty years ago, continued today, there would have been 70 deaths, more than four times the 18 young lives lost last year,” Mr Scarr said.
“This is substantial progress, and many lives have been saved, but we won’t stop campaigning until it is zero.”
