Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann MP, has announced that under a Shorten Labor Government kids in Blair will have access to swimming and water safety lessons in primary school.
Mr Neumann said that whether it’s at Somerset or Lowood dams, the ocean, rivers or the backyard pool – enjoying the water is part of Australian life.
“Kids in Ipswich, the Somerset Region and the Karana Downs region 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.
Mr Neumann said the program aims to ensure Australian children are strong swimmers and safe in the water, as access to school-based swimming lessons is currently inconsistent.
“Kids are accessing lessons 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.
“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.”
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 leaves primary school unable to swim 50 metres.
Labor will work with states and territory Governments as well as Catholic and Independent schools to deliver the program to schools who require extra support, as well as 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.
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.
Mr Neumann said 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.”
