A Shorten Labor Government will make sure Australian kids have access to swimming and water safety lessons in primary school.
“Whether it’s at the beach, the river or the backyard pool – enjoying the water is part of Australian life,” said the Member for Macarthur.
Australians love swimming, but too many young people are growing up without learning sufficient water safety skills to keep them safe.
In 2017-18, nearly 250 people drowned in Australian waterways. One in five drownings were people under the age of 25.
This summer has been particularly tragic with 65 drownings in our waterways.
“We want to make sure Australian children are strong swimmers and safe in the water,” said Dr Mike Freelander MP.
Currently, access to school-based swimming lessons is inconsistent, with access depending on their location, type of school and whether their parents can afford private lessons.
“This is unfair and unsafe. We don’t want children to miss out,” said Dr Freelander.
The Swim Smart program will deliver more swimming and water safety lessons for students during the school term.
“From the 2020 school year, we will fund additional swimming lessons for schools that need it, catch-up lessons for kids needing extra support, and more support for the cost of transport and pool entry fees,” said the Member for Macarthur.
The new national program will be based on the Royal Life Saving Australia’s Year Four National Water Safety Standards. This includes the goal that children can swim 50 metres, tread water and know how to respond if they fall into water unexpectedly.
Currently, about one in five kids leave primary school unable to swim 50 metres.
Labor will work with states and territories, Catholic and Independent schools to deliver the program to schools who require extra support. We will also work with local government, swim schools and lifesaving clubs to help ensure students have access.
“The program will also provide additional support to children with disability, to ensure they can participate in water safety and learn to swim programs just like their class mates,” said Dr Mike Freelander MP.
“Swimming lessons aren’t just something parents should have to organise on weekends or during the holidays. It’s a critical part of growing up safe in Australia, so it should be part of the school term.”
The policy has been costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office to have a budget impact of $46 million over the forward estimates, and will be in addition to existing state and territory programs.
Labor can fund extra swimming lessons for kids because we’ve made tough budget decisions to make multinationals pay their fair share of tax, close tax loopholes used by the top end of town, and we won’t give a tax cut to the big banks.
