Drowning deaths and non-fatal drowning incidents continue to occur in the Wheatbelt region and have raised awareness about the importance of water safety education and training.
Between 2009 – 2019 there were 9 drowning deaths in the Wheatbelt, which was the 8th highest drowning rate in WA. A further 37 people were hospitalised following a non-fatal drowning incident.
Diving was the top activity which led to these incidents (33%), followed by boating (22%) and swimming (11%). The top locations where these incidents took place were:
- Ocean/harbour (33%)
- Beach (22%)
- Home Pool (22%)
Contributing factors were:
- Poor swimming ability (44%)
- Environmental factors e.g. poor weather/water conditions (22%)
- Participating alone (22%)
- Lack of supervision by a responsible adult (22%)
The drowning risk in the Wheatbelt region is the highest among toddlers 0-4 years and young people 15-24 years. 72% of those who drowned were male.
85% of incidents involved people born in Australia, with more than half of the fatal incidents (56%) involving a visitor to the area. This is higher than overall state trends.
Priority areas for drowning prevention include:
- Males - are 2.2 times more likely to drown than females in the Wheatbelt region
- Toddlers aged 0-4 years
- People swimming alone
- Adult supervision of young children
- Swimming ability
You can download our snapshot of drowning data in the Wheatbelt region below.