Vaughan Davies joins our board of directors

Royal Life Saving WA is pleased to welcome Vaughan Davies to its board of directors.

Currently Assistant Director General at the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage, Vaughan manages the business and corporate services division. Prior to this, Vaughan spent six years at the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, beginning as a regional manager based in Kununurra before moving to Perth in 2013 to take up an executive role in the department, culminating in the Director General role.

“The Department of Aboriginal Affairs is primarily responsible for preserving our unique Aboriginal heritage assets and managing crown land held in trust for Aboriginal people for their use and benefit - including most of the remote pools managed by RLSSWA,” Vaughan explains.

Vaughan has also held positions at Tourism WA and in local government authorities, although he began his career as a pool lifeguard!

Most recently, Vaughan became a member of the Royal Life Saving WA Aboriginal Reference Group. “My membership is based on my professional background in Aboriginal affairs, my knowledge of current issues facing Aboriginal people, as well as government processes more broadly.

“I'm a keen open-water swimmer, so I spend most evenings and a good part of the weekend at pools training for races - I've been doing this most of my life, so I have a good understanding and appreciation for the aquatic industry,” Vaughan continues.

“When I was working in local government, I built aquatic facilities, managed pools and a range of other aquatic facilities, employed lifeguards and pool managers, engaged Royal Life Saving to provide training in regional areas. Prior to that, I was trained by Royal Life Saving!”

Vaughan is keen to work with the board to pursue new partnerships that bring about good outcomes, and continue to support and expand the great work that the organisation does in remote and regional parts of WA. “I’m looking forward to giving back some of my time to an organisation that's been a big part of life,” he concludes.

Learn more about our work in WA's remote aboriginal communities at the link below.