Royal Life Saving WA works in conjunction with 7 swimming pools and a range of community organisations across the Kimberley region to provide a range of programs, including:
We are also actively raising water safety awareness, educating local communities and celebrating all that is healthy swimming activity with the below programs:
Spirit Carnival
The Royal Life Saving Society WA annually runs a Swimming and Lifesaving Carnival known as the Spirit Carnival. This carnival gives the Aboriginal children in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions an opportunity to participate in a carnival that builds on the success of the Swim for Fruit Program and gives the children additional opportunity to practice their lifesaving skills in a fun and engaging environment.
The event comes as recent data revealed children in regional and remote areas of WA were five times more likely to drown than those in the Perth metropolitan area. It also found that between 2003 and 2013, 28 per cent of drowning deaths in the 5-14-year age group involved Aboriginal children.
See details of the most recent Spirit Carnival at the link below.
Swim for Fruit
The Go for 2 and 5 Regional and Remote Aboriginal Communities Swimming Program (or Swim for Fruit) provides support for an after school and weekend lap swimming program and the expansion of the school-based Swim & Survive programs in regional and remote Aboriginal communities. Children who complete a set number of laps in a session are rewarded with an afternoon tea of fresh fruits and healthy treats.
The Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pools Project (RASP)
Indigenous groups have been identified as a demographic at a high-risk of drowning and non-fatal drowning in Australia. Aboriginal children drown at a rate two and a half times that of non-Aboriginal children.
The Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pools Project (RASP) is managed by the Royal Life Saving Society and is funded primarily through the Department of Communities with additional contribution made through BHP and the Telethon Kids Institute.
It focuses on providing the remote communities of Balgo, Bidyadanga, Burringurrah, Fitzroy Crossing, Jigalong, Kalumburu, Warmun and Yandeyarra with recreational and educational swimming programs, to encourage safe aquatic participation.
