Royal Life Saving WA Swim Teachers making milestones

January 2021 was a momentous time for Royal Life Saving WA, launching the Swim Teacher by Royal Life Saving WA course, however an even greater achievement has occurred recently – we now have over 1,000 people in WA who hold an active Swim Teacher licence.  

Over the past few years, there has been a shortage of qualified swim teachers, so this is great news as numbers are continually on the rise because of a number of factors including the Department of Training and Workforce Development Funding received, which offered the Swim Teacher course as part of the low and no cost training initiatives launched due to covid impacts on jobs. 

This in turn has had positive impacts on the aquatic industry and wider organisations such as the Department of Education as they are better equipped to deal with the demand of delivering swimming lessons.  

This wouldn't have been possible without the rigorous scheduling of courses throughout the state in both Perth metro areas as well as regional communities. Not to mention the ongoing support provided to existing swim teachers through Royal Life Saving professional development sessions and networking events.  

According to the National Drowning Report 2023, '33% of drowning related deaths occur because of swimming and recreating.'' This currently remains the top activity related to fatalities. 

With this in mind, we must commit ourselves to retaining our network of qualified swim teachers to continue on a path to creating a nation free from drowning. 

This is why we appreciate the value of our swim teachers and the importance they have on the community, teaching our future generations essential swimming and water safety skills and informing current generations about water safety education to improve their current practices.  

In the 2022/23 financial year, Royal Life Saving WA delivered 76 Swim Teacher courses with 805 participants.  

18-year-olds as an age group had the largest uptake in the course itself with the Perth North Metropolitan area responsible for holding the largest catchment of Swim Teacher licence holders with ten current licence holders identifying themselves as Indigenous.  

Swim Teachers not only teach practical water safety and swimming skills for survival, but they also emphasize more personable skills such as confidence, patience and calmness – all of which are essential whether you are faced with an emergency or not.  

Thank you to everyone who is a part of our Swim Teacher community and all your hard work and dedication to teaching the WA community to be safe in and around the water.  

Interested in becoming a Swim Teacher or need to update your existing qualification, follow the link below.