Presenters Thursday
Thursday 26 November
The following break out sessions will be held throughout the day.
(these details are subject to change)
Education from 11.30am
Gordon Mallet
30 Years of Australian Swim Education
Gordon Mallet, AUSTSWIM
AUSTSWIM has been responsible for training swimming and water safety teachers in Australia for the past 30 years. During that time there has been an evolution of programs, operations and course development. In the last decade AUSTSWIM has concentrated on consolidating the efforts and achievements to ensure it remains at the forefront of the field and has clear plans and directions for the future.
The past decade has seen the organisation go through a series of strategic planning sessions which have clarified its objectives and directions and highlighted the need to concentrate on core business. This has resulted in a much stronger, vibrant organisation, which is more focused on customer service and the development of the highest standards of resource development. This decision was rewarded with AUSTSWIM recently winning the TAFE and Vocational Education – Single Title Category in the 2009 Australian Education Publishing Awards for its new text Teaching Swimming and Water Safety. During this time of change, AUSTSWIM has learnt many lessons and inevitably modified its approach to change management.
As the Chairman of AUSTSWIM for the past decade, Kirk Marks has led the organisation through this change. His presentation will explain how the organisation has learnt from mistakes and evolved. This information will benefit organisations currently undertaking change or considering change in the near future.
Norman Farmer ESM
Coastal Injury
Norman Farmer ESM National Manager Coastal Safety Services, Surf Life Saving Australia
In Australia more than 85% of the population lives near the coast with tourist beaches attracting an estimated 80 million visits every year. Despite being an attraction for living and visiting, the 56,000km coastline presents inherent and largely unpredictable risk. In the past 102 years Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) has saved more than 500,000 lives at beaches across Australia and continues to rescue more than 12,000 people every year. Despite this, of the 11,748 beaches identified by the Australian Beach Safety and Management Program (ABSAMP), less than 400 (3.4%) have a lifesaving service.
Coastal safety risk assessment is a vital process for identifying, analysing and evaluating risk to human life on beaches and the coastline. SLSA's coastal safety and risk management strategy has four core components:
1. Data and information on beach usage (collected from a range of inputs including population data, beach usage data, incident injury and death data, lifesaver rescue and intervention data)
2. Data and information on beach conditions and hazards (from ABSAMP and other sources)
3. Detailed safety risk assessment using population related inputs that are quantitatively and qualitatively assess against known hazards
4. Hierarchical risk treatments that are tailored for each location
This presentation will explore how drowning prevention on the coast is best addressed through the adoption of risk management techniques, actions and mitigants including the role of education and training as a core risk treatment. It will ask and address the question – is education and training sufficient in the year 2009 and beyond?
Brent Ward
Skills 2 Swim, Reintroducing Fundamental Water Safety Skills
Brent Ward – Skills 2 Swim Coordinator, Sport Otago
This project's goal is to meet the New Zealand Water Safety Council's Swim for Life goal of 'Every New Zealand Child by the age of 12 will be able to swim 200m confidently and competently with associated survival skills and understand the key water safety messages'. This three year initiative will develop swimming skills, offer professional development to those teaching swimming in schools, and aims to improve children's awareness and knowledge of water safety. Ongoing data collation and research are strong components of the initiative.
Policy / Strategy from 11.30am
Brett Sullivam
An Integrated Approach to Coastal Public Safety in New Zealand
Brett Sullivan – Lifesaving Manager, Surf Life Saving New Zealand
The SLSNZ Lifesaving Plan continues to guide development and implementation of programmes to achieve our purpose of preventing drowning and injury in New Zealand. The plan contains four key strategies to reduce drowning:
1. Education and awareness
2. Access/environment
3. Supervision and service
4. Survival skill acquisition
How these strategies are applied efficiently and effectively nationwide has been a key focus for SLSNZ. There are hundreds of beaches throughout New Zealand and strategies to manage the risk at these require more than the traditional club-based beach patrols.
SLSNZ has developed a Coastal Public Safety Assessment tool which enables it to complete a full assessment of New Zealand's coastline. The information is 'site specific' and identifies the risk mitigation interventions in each location. More than 100 coastal sites have been assessed during the last 12 months. The focus now is prioritizing locations and developing plans that will integrate the various lifesaving interventions to achieve a safer aquatic environment. These reports will provide the evidence base to guide the application of our key strategies.
SLSNZ has also trialed the assessment tool in a number of non-coastal aquatic environments. It intends to expand the capability of this assessment tool so it can be applied to other aquatic environments such as lakes and rivers. This presentation will provide an insight into an integrated sector wide approach.
Bruce Reid
Saving Lives at Sea
Bruce Reid – CEO, Coastguard New Zealand
Bruce Reid CEO of Coastguard New Zealand takes a Non Government Organisational (NGO) look at Saving Lives at Sea and the key role played by Voluntary organisations in helping drive change in the sector.
16 months ago Coastguard New Zealand entered into uncharted waters with the development and implementation of a Service Level Agreement with Government. The agreement not only provided a degree of secure funding for Coastguard but formalised the relationship between the NGO and government partners, NZSAR, Police and RCCNZ.
In looking towards the future Bruce will provide some insights into some of the key internal and external challenges created by these types of partnerships. The presentation will focus on the following key areas:
• Organisational change within Coastguard made to provide the platform for a Service Level Agreement.
• Impact on partnership internally and externally
• Risk management regarding future funding
• Influence and leadership created by the SLA
• Keys to successful NGO Government engagement
Dr Richard Franklin
The Challenges of Preventing Child Drowning Deaths
Dr Richard Franklin – National Manager Research & Health Promotion, Royal Life Saving Society Australia
Children are one of the most vulnerable populations to drowning. In Australia and New Zealand, children under five years of age have the highest rate of drowning compared to other age groups. This presentation explores current proposed strategies and evidence for preventing drowning deaths of children. This paper will explore the possibility of current strategies reducing the number of drowning deaths of children in Australia and the implications for the water safety community including timeframes and resourcing.
Technical / Research from 11.30am
Ian Hassall
Supervision Neglect – Whose responsibility?
Ian Hassall – Institute of Public Policy
Shayne Galloway
The New Zealand River Recreation Use Study
Shayne Galloway – Lecturer, University of Otago
This presentation includes selected findings from the 2008 New Zealand Recreational River Use Study and discusses implications for Water Safety Education in New Zealand. Participants provided data from a range of activities (kayaking, fishing and others) regarding their knowledge, skill, ability, motivation for participation, and site preferences. Of particular interest are the findings regarding what participants considered to be 'water safety qualifications' and estimates of their swimming ability.
Dr Mike Tipton
The Integrated Survival System
Prof. Michael Tipton – Professor of Human & Applied Physiology, University of Portsmouth, UK
After many years of study, Prof Tipton has uncovered some of the key factors that contribute to death at sea. Much of his work relates to the physiological changes our bodies go through when immersed and recovered from cold water. His advice on post-rescue medical assistance will improve the chances of your patient's survival. This is vital information that will be of interest to all water rescue organisations and recreational operators.
Education from 2.00pm
Peter Crabb
For Divers, Scallops are more Dangerous than Sharks
Peter Crabb – Communications Manager, New Zealand Underwater
With the onset of summer, the desire for divers to collect scallops creates "scallop fever" and in any given year many more divers meet their demise at the hands of scallops than through shark attacks. Many diving related incidents and accidents are the result of a single issue which quickly progresses to a cascade of issues which can overwhelm a diver resulting in fatality or serious injury.
Scallop diving in New Zealand is unique in presenting a range of potential risk factors through the very nature of the activity, the timing and the locations where this form of diving takes place. This presentation will talk about diver safety with particular reference to scallop diving and will discuss the creation and dissemination of core dive safe messages and the importance and necessity of a DES emergency services number for the specialist nature of diving related incidents and accidents.
Dave DuBois
The Language of Water Safety and Effectiveness of Delivery
Dave DuBois – Head of Learning & Development, Carlile Swimming
This session will explore how the language and methodology used to communicate water safety messages to key stake holders may have an adverse effect on desired outcomes.
Dr Richard Franklin
Drowning in Rivers – What to do?
Dr Richard Franklin – National Manager Research & Health Promotion, Royal Life Saving Society Australia
Drowning deaths in Australian rivers represent a significant issue; however very little is known about the circumstances surrounding these deaths. Between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2007 295 people drowned in Australia in rivers, representing a fifth of all drowning deaths and making rivers the most common drowning location. This paper explores the circumstances around these deaths using the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) and explores possible prevention strategies and their effectiveness.
Leadership from 2.00pm
Nigel Clifford & Bruce Johnston
The Coordination of Marine Search and Rescue Incidents by RCCNZ and the NZ Police
Nigel Clifford – General Manager Safety Services Maritime New Zealand and Bruce Johnston – National SAR Coordinator New Zealand Police
Search and Rescue (SAR) in the marine environment must deal rapidly and effectively with multiple challenges; including weather conditions, sea conditions, victim location in often vast search areas, mounting the rescue operation and recovering rescuers and victims safely to shore. Coordinating these SAR missions often requires agencies and volunteer groups to work closely together. This presentation considers the key challenges and risks involved in this joint working and looks at current initiatives being put in place to help provide better SAR services.
Catherine Taylor
The National Pleasure Boat Safety Strategy – Is it working?
Catherine Taylor – Director, Maritime New Zealand
The task of minimising the risk of injury or loss of life among the million people who go pleasure boating each year is daunting. While every person on a boat has to take some responsibility for their own wellbeing, and each skipper is responsible for the safety of their vessel, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ)'s role under the Maritime Transport Act is to set the national framework that will result in minimal harm to those involved and ensure pollution is reduced as far as possible.
The recreational boating industry, which encompasses some 430,000 vessels, expects MNZ to take a national leadership role. MNZ does this via regulation and education, steered by an evidence-based Pleasure Boat Safety Strategy. This strategy was reviewed in 2007 and recommendations were made for future safety initiatives. This presentation looks at the strategy, the basis for its development and to what extent it has been successful.
Jamie Delich
Learning to Swim and Survive – Who's taking responsibility?
Jamie Delich – Manager, Recreation and Sport Facility Development, Wellington City Council
Since the 'Tomorrow's Schools' funding model was introduced in the 1980s there has been diminishing support from education for learn to swim and survival skills. With decreasing investment in operation and maintenance of school swimming pools, and an apparent lack of commitment to learn to swim and water safety over successive changes to the national curricular, it was not surprising WSNZ research in 2008 revealed that just one in five 10-year-olds could swim 200m – the minimum benchmark Water Safety New Zealand considers necessary to swim and survive in the water.
In Wellington alone, the number of schools with pools has reduced from 48 to only 22 – and of those only 11 remain in use. This has placed increased pressure on both the city's public pools and schools, whose barriers to participation now include extra costs associated with transport and time spent away from school. The question arises – is it solely the role of local government to resolve this? This presentation will outline Wellington City Council's response to a call for action.
Policy / Strategy from 2.00pm
Brendon Ward
Partnerships and Diversified Income
Brendon Ward – CEO, New Zealand Recreation Association
Brendon will explain how the New Zealand Recreation Association developed a number of initiatives including PoolSafe (WSNZ), Yardstick (Prophet IAM), Peer Review Service (SPARC) in a partnership approach that has seen the organisation triple both revenue and membership during the past four years.
John Filsell
Aquatic Strategies
John Filsell, Chistchurch City Council
Christchurch City Council has produced a city-wide plan for the future provision of aquatic facilities for the next 30 years. The investment of significant time and energy to develop this strategy will ensure that community needs are met regardless of changes in political or economic conditions. John has some very good structures to share – you might even want to develop (or review) one by the end of this session.
Duncan Ferner
Duncan Ferner – Secretariat Manager, New Zealand Search and Rescue (NZSAR) Working Together
This presentation will explain how the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council promotes cooperation and collaboration within New Zealand's Search and Rescue sector.