IW8 - Public Awareness and Community Education

Purpose

To provide guidance for the provision of public awareness and community education to reduce systemic risks of drowning in inland waterways and their communities.

Background

Successful injury prevention models include public awareness and community education efforts as a critical component for systemic change.

The recent World Health Assembly Resolution (2023) on accelerating action on drowning prevention, urges members states “to encourage the promotion of drowning prevention through community engagement, public awareness and behavioural change campaigns.”

Likewise the International Lifesaving Federation, “works to reduce the incidence of drowning and aquatic injuries throughout the world by supporting standardised public information and education.”

As elimination of the hazard of water is not practicable in most cases, educational messaging tailored to the local context that prioritises specific populations, waterways and high-risk activities is paramount for building resilient communities free from drowning.

“Restricting access alone is not a sufficient risk mitigation to prevent drownings in attractive swimming locations. Systemic interventions like education and public awareness are also needed to reduce drowning risk.” Australian Policy and Cares Law for Public Safety in Inland Waterways, p.23

Scope

This guideline applies to entities and/or individuals who own, operate, or control inland waterways; or own, operate or control public access to inland waterways; or have a responsibility / duty of care for the use of the associated inland waterway, such as land or water managers or inland waterway program or activity operators (hereafter referred to as the ‘responsible person’).

There are many examples where access to waterways is via land owned or operated by a variety of stakeholders, and where the waterway is owned or operated by a third party. A shared responsibility approach between stakeholders to each do what is reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of drowning or serious aquatic injury arising from use or access to the waterway should be adopted.

This guideline applies to tourism operators, advertisers and entities who promote inland waterway locations and/or inland waterway activities (hereafter referred to as the responsible person).

This guideline is not referring to signage, which is covered in IW4.

Description

The responsible person should make provisions for public awareness and community education to reduce systemic drowning and water safety risk.

Promotional bodies should make provision for specific public awareness and safety messaging in campaigns and/or marketing materials that encourage visitation to inland waterways. This includes when promoting an inland waterway as a destination, or an activity in, on, or around an inland waterway.

Public awareness, water safety messaging and behavioural change campaigns

Wherever possible, public awareness and water safety messaging campaigns should:

• Be evidence based (who is drowning, where, when and why)
• Targeted at those most at risk of drowning
• Be tailored to local context, prioritising local waterways, specific population and high-risk activities
• Be informed and co-designed in collaboration with the local community/stakeholders
• Promote prevention strategies
• Be evaluated on their effectiveness

In the dissemination of public awareness and water safety messaging (campaigns), it is important to consider the method that would be most effective in reaching the target audience as well as equity in accessing the dissemination method. For example if older adults are drowning in higher rates, consider whether a social media campaign is a useful strategy when a letter drop may be more suitable for the target audience.

Forms of public awareness and community education

Public awareness and community education may take many forms including:

• Community service announcements
• First aid and CPR training courses (e.g. for parents and carers, older adults, etc.)
• Mail outs (including e-mail)
• Media campaigns (e.g. targeting parents and carers to raise awareness and promote prevention strategies)
• Media Releases/newspaper articles
• Offering swimming and water safety programs for community members
• Posters / stickers / promotional brochures
• Publication of water safety information at community centres or in bulletins/newsletters
• Radio / TV advertising
• Random testing for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and drug consumption at inland waterways
• Reinforcing the importance of active, adult supervision of children and avoiding distractions
• Safety campaigns to promote safe behaviour around water (e.g. young men)
• Safety demonstrations and activity days
• School education programs
• Social media posts (e.g. community Facebook page)
• Swimming, lifesaving and aquatic sporting programs

Collaboration

Consideration should be given to partnering with local community groups to deliver key messages and/or co-contribute resources towards water safety. Interested organisations may include but not limited to:

• Aquatic recreation groups (kayaking, swimming, rowing, sailing, etc.)
• Churches / religious groups
• Community noticeboards
• Country women’s association
• Culturally and linguistically diverse community groups
• Daycare centres / mum and bub groups
• Freemasons
• Hobby groups (fishing,
• Libraries
• Local emergency services (volunteers)
• Local aquatic facilities/outdoor swimming pools/swim schools
• Local doctor's office / hospital / pharmacy
• Local news radio/newspapers
• Local pubs / cafes / pizza shop / fish and chip shop
• Local schools
• Local surf shops
• Post offices
• Rotary association
• Returned Serviceman's Leagues (RSL's) / soldier’s clubs
• Sports clubs

References

• Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council. (2006). Guidelines for managing risk in recreational water. Australian Government, Canberra, Australia.
• Australian Water Safety Council. (2021). Australian water safety strategy 2030. Australian Water Safety Council, Sydney, Australia.
• Houston, R., & Cherfils, B. (2023). South East Queensland water safety strategy. Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, Sydney, Australia.
• Schiavone, C., Houston, R., & Cherfils, B. (2022). Australian policy and caselaw for public safety in inland waterways. Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, Sydney, Australia.
• United Nations. (2014). Global report on drowning. United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
• United Nations. (2021). Global drowning prevention (Resolution A/75/L.76). United Nations General Assembly, New York, United States of America.
• World Health Organisation. (2023). Accelerating action on global drowning prevention (Resolution EB152(12)). World Health Assembly, Geneva, Switzerland.
• World Health Organisation. (2003). Guidelines for safe recreational water environments. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
• World Health Organisation. (2017). Prevent drowning: An implementation guide (Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO). World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.