B O AT I N G I N A U S T R A L I A
Boating is an extremely popular activity around the Australian coast and waterways. There are 3.4 million coastal boaters in Australia, of which 900,000 are frequent participants. An estimated 20% of Australians go boating each year with the majority living in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. Behavioural research5 revealed that the most common reasons for boating are for fun and enjoyment (73%), relaxation (71%), being with friends and family (68%) and being outdoors or in the natural environment (65%). Furthermore, the most popular boating activities are reported as fishing (69%) and touring or cruising (58%). While many Australians enjoy recreating on the water, unfortuantely there are too many incidents that end in injury and death. There have been 240 coastal boating-related drowning deaths between 2004-2017, which is an average of 18 deaths per year1. Recreational boating is consistently the second highest coastal drowning activity nationally (following swimming & wading), however it is ranked first in both Tasmania and Northern Territory. Between 2004-17, 62% of coastal boating fatalities were known not to be wearing a lifejacket. However, this number could be much higher with 27% remaining unknown1. One of the recommended counter measures to boating-related fatalities is the use of lifejackets. Currently, legislation is state-based and varies according to each state. Surf Life Saving Australia collaborates with the Australian New Zealand Safe Boating Education Group (ANZSBEG) to develop educational interventions to increase the wear rate of lifejackets. Representing the key stakeholders in recreational boating safety across Australia and New Zealand, ANZSBEG is an excellent example of crossjurisdictional collaboration establishing consistency in educational key messages such as the International Lifejacket Principles initiative.
SURF LIFE SAVING AUSTR ALIA
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COASTAL SAFET Y BRIEF – BOATING