Introduction

Inland waterways such as rivers, creeks, streams, lakes, dams and lagoons provide significant social and economic value to Australia and require comprehensive consideration in waterway planning and management.

While health, resource, environmental and recreation considerations are often the subject of dialogue and debate when it comes to inland waterway planning and management, safety remains a significant issue in how society governs the interactions between human activity and the natural environment.

Within Australia, inland waterways are the most prominent location for unintentional fatal drownings to occur. In the summer of 2021/22 51 per cent of all drowning deaths occurred in inland waterways. 28 per cent of drownings involved swimming and recreation as the leading activity prior to drowning, 13 per cent involved boating and 13 per cent involved an unintentional fall into water.

A ten-year analysis from 2011/12 to 2020/21 indicated that of the 924 drowning deaths that occurred in inland waterways 73 per cent of incidents took place at rivers and creeks and 27 per cent at lakes and dams.

Due to inland waterways being a leading location for drowning deaths, the Australian Water Safety Strategy (AWSS) identifies rivers and lakes as one of the 15 key areas to focus on to reach the target of halving drowning deaths in Australia by 50 per cent by 2030.

The use of any aquatic location introduces a level of risk to the public. The Royal Life Saving Society - Australia has developed these Guidelines for Inland Waterway Safety in response to that risk.

Scope

These Guidelines provide practical guidance for any person or entity with a responsibility or duty to take reasonable care to reduce the risk of injury or death resulting from access to and/or the use of inland waterways.

These Guidelines apply to all publicly accessible inland waterways including: rivers, creeks, streams, billabongs, canals, irrigation channels, dams, estuaries, harbours, lagoons, lakes, ornamental water bodies, ponds, spillways, springs, ditches, storm water drains and retention systems, swimming holes, waterfalls, water troughs, wells, weirs, wetlands, bogs, inland beaches, rock pools, city freshwater fronts, and causeways.

The Guidelines provide advice for land managers, operators, designers, developers, government authorities, sales agents and residents on water safety considerations that should be integral to the design, development and the longer-term operation of any inland waterway.

The primary purpose of the Guidelines is to protect the health and safety of Australians from threats posed by the recreational use of inland open waterways. It includes information on risk assessment and managing risks within and around the aquatic environment. Each waterway has unique features, and no single document can adequately address every situation and need.

These Guidelines are for the purposes of lifesaving and are not intended to cover the health risks associated with water quality which is covered in other guidance.

These Guidelines should be used to ensure that aquatic environments are managed to be as safe as is reasonably possible so that users can benefit from all the lifelong social, health and economic benefits of aquatic activities without any harm occurring.

Effective collaboration and communication among key agencies is essential to the success of water safety management. Community engagement and education is also an important part of water safety. It provides an understanding of what the community values about inland waterways and supports the planning for, and delivery of water safety management.

Other stakeholders with an interest in inland waterways include Traditional Owners, environmental groups, recreational users, local government, other water entitlement holders, landholders and local communities. It is important that the interests and values of these groups are incorporated in planning for, and management of safety in, on and around inland waterways.

The recommended best practices of these Guidelines may not meet the safety requirements of all waterways, recreation areas, facilities, features, applications, programs and/or community. As such, landowners and operators of recreational programs should customise and contextualise safety efforts and, where practically possible, maintain higher standards than those outlined in these Guidelines.

By the same token, one or more recommendations may be impractical or impossible to implement at a particular inland waterway due to a distinct geographical feature, or for other reasons. Owners and operators should apply good judgment in fulfilling the intent of these Guidelines.

These Guidelines should be used to guide activities for those who have operative responsibility over the access to and the use of waterways, as well as those who benefit commercially, or otherwise, from the use of the waterways, including tourism operators, those running programs such as sports, recreation, camps and/or learn to swim or lifesaving programs.

These Guidelines have been developed by Royal Life Saving Society - Australia for adoption by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, local governments and owners and operators of inland waterways, the access to and from inland waterways and/or programs and aquatic activities being conducted in inland waterways.

WATER SAFETY POLICY AND LAW IN AUSTRALIA

The regulatory environment for water resources policy in Australia is complex and varies between States and Territories, primarily focusing on agriculture, public health, drinking water, and ecological elements rather than recreational activities. A 2022 review by Royal Life Saving Society – Australia highlighted significant disparities in water safety management between inland waterways and beaches/public pools. Many drownings could be prevented with standard risk management practices. Effective risk management, community-wide approaches, and cross-collaboration among stakeholders are crucial. Simply restricting access is insufficient; education and public awareness are essential to reducing drowning risks.

Read the report here: https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/Aquatic-Risk-and-Guidelines/aquatic-research/australian-policy-and-case-law-for-public-safety-in-inland-waterways

RLSSA ACCEPTANCE AND RELEASE NOTICE

This document is a managed document. For identification of amendments, each document contains an issue date, number and a page number. Changes will only be issued as a complete replacement document. Recipients should remove superseded versions from circulation.

Authorisation:

Amendments in this release:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Royal Life Saving Society Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continued connection to land, waters and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; Elders past and present.