Council lifeguards need more funding: lives depend on it

In early January, I witnessed the aftermath of a near-drowning at Sandon Point. The council lifeguard and multiple paramedics were treating a teenage boy who had been caught in a rip current and rescued by surfers.

It was an emotional incident for family, friends and bystanders, and while the boy was okay, such a close call raises important questions about how we patrol our beaches and where beach safety funding should be directed.

Sandon Point Beach is about 900 metres long and is patrolled by council lifeguards and volunteer surf lifesavers. The red and yellow flags are typically set up close to the surf lifesaving club at the northern end of the beach. 

However, many people swim along the unpatrolled middle and southern section where there is ample parking and easy access – and usually several rip currents. 

The lifeguards and lifesavers do regular roving patrols along this unpatrolled section, but after the boy had recovered, I spoke to the lifeguard who said that council wanted to have an additional lifeguard stationed permanently there, but did not have enough funding to make this happen.

This is a problem not only for Wollongong City Council, but for many other councils along the NSW coast. 

Councils simply do not have enough funding to extend their beach lifeguard services.

Despite their ubiquitous presence on our beaches and 18 seasons of Bondi Rescue, council lifeguards, who are paid professionals and in Wollongong patrol through the week and Saturdays and wear white and blue uniforms, and surf lifesavers, who are volunteers that patrol on weekends and public holidays during the extended summer season and wear red and yellow uniforms, are often confused by the public.

A recent report by my UNSW Beach Safety Research Group showed that in a financial year, council lifeguards were solely responsible for patrolling NSW beaches 77 per cent of the time compared to 14 per cent for volunteer lifesavers. The rest of the time both services operate together. 

These numbers are similar for Wollongong beaches. Lifeguards are clearly the backbone of beach safety in NSW. Both services are incredibly valuable for keeping our beaches safe.

However, while Surf Life Saving NSW traditionally receives significant funding from the NSW Government – most recently a record four-year $72 million funding investment – there is no external funding available to councils to extend lifeguard patrol hours and add additional lifeguards on both patrolled and unpatrolled beaches.

Given that rates of beach drowning in NSW are rising, I would argue that if we really want to get serious about reducing beach drownings, it’s time to increase funding available to council beach lifeguard services.  

Wollongong City Council is seeking input ahead of drafting their 20-year Beach Services and Surf Sports via a survey that includes a question about your satisfaction with patrolled lifeguard services. If you think that having extended lifeguard hours and more lifeguards on beaches is a good idea, have your say here by Sunday, February 8.