Remote Pool Managers get set for new season

Royal Life Saving WA’s Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pool program has been running for over 20 years now, providing vital swimming and water safety education, health and community benefits and employment opportunities for Aboriginal families across WA’s north-west. There are now eight pools in the communities of Kalumburu, Warman, Balgo, Fitzroy Crossing, Bidyadanga, Yandeyarra, Jigalong and Burringurrah, run by Royal Life Saving WA pool managers and funded by the Department of Communities, BHP and Healthway.

As the pools get ready to open for the new season over the coming weeks, our pool managers and swim instructors got together in Port Hedland this week to complete important requalification training in pool lifeguard, bronze medallion and aquatic trainer certifications. Further workshops were also provided to upskill staff in the delivery of community development programs as they work to provide vital social impact outcomes for local community residents.

Indigenous groups have been identified as a demographic at a high-risk of drowning and non-fatal drowning across Australia, while Aboriginal children drown at a rate two and a half times that of non-Aboriginal children. The remote pools are an important initiative to turn these statistics around, enabling many thousands of young children, youth and adults to benefit from water safety education they would otherwise miss out on.

Our remote pool staff are now travelling back to their communities, including new Pool Managers Ryan Ingley, who will be working at the newest pool in Kalumburu, and Stephen Waterman, who will take the reins at Warmun. We look forward to seeing them engage with these communities in the coming weeks as they open the gates to another successful season!

You can learn more about the Remote Aborginal Swimming Pool program at the link below.