Committee meets to discuss multicultural programs

Royal Life Saving WA’s Multicultural Steering Committee is made up of a group of like-minded people from Royal Life Saving and cultural organisations across Perth. The group is designed to share knowledge and cultural understandings, enabling us to break down the barriers to participation, empowering the multicultural community to be safe in and around water and lead efforts to reduce drowning.

Recently the committee held its third meeting at the Royal Life Saving WA head office in Mount Claremont. During the meeting the group enjoyed a presentation from Elizabeth Tekanyo and Shenali Perera from Diversity Focus, discussing diversity and inclusion. This session was well received by the committee who recommended it as valuable resource for organisations to take part in.

After this Royal Life Saving WA Senior Manager Health Promotion and Research, Lauren Nimmo, addressed the group, sharing information about the work Royal Life Saving is currently doing to make local swimming pools and aquatic recreation centres more welcoming and culturally competent.

These activities include the provision of cultural awareness training to pool lifeguards and swim instructors, and the current development of introduction videos that explain the aquatic centre environment for those attending for the first time.

These meetings always provide valuable insights into how Royal Life Saving WA can improve its work in multicultural communities across the state and we look forward to continually increasing our provision of swimming and water safety education to those from different cultures right around WA.

You can read more about our work in WA's multicultural communities at the link below.