AUSTSWIM supports growing national calls for urgent investment in Australia’s ageing aquatic infrastructure, warning that pool closures, long travel times and delayed projects will have direct consequences for swimming and water safety education.
As Australia’s national organisation for swimming and water safety teacher education and licensing, AUSTSWIM believes public pools must be recognised as essential learning infrastructure, not optional community extras.
“Quality swimming teachers save lives, but they need safe, accessible and fit-for-purpose places to teach,” AUSTSWIM CEO Lisa Kinross said.
“When a community loses access to a pool, or when families have to travel too far for lessons, children miss out on swimming and water safety education. Adults miss the opportunity to build confidence in the water. Schools, swim schools and teachers lose program capacity. Over time, this can weaken Australia’s drowning prevention efforts.”
AUSTSWIM supports recent Infrastructure Victoria's recent call for support to build aquatic centres for Melbourne's growing communities, and back Royal Life Saving Australia’s long-standing advocacy for a coordinated national approach to aquatic infrastructure and calls on governments to ensure future pool investment decisions explicitly consider swimming lesson capacity, access equity and aquatic workforce needs.
The Royal Life Saving State of Australian Aquatic Facilities 2025 report highlights the scale of the issue, with 2,103 publicly accessible aquatic facilities receiving more than 421 million visits annually and generating $12.84 billion in annual social value. The report also notes that more than six million Australians already need to drive more than 10 minutes to reach a public pool, with this projected to rise to 7.3 million by 2032.
This comes amid record water safety concern. The National Drowning Report 2025 recorded 357 drowning deaths in Australia, 27% above the 10-year average. AUSTSWIM says maintaining and improving access to places where people can learn swimming and water safety skills must be part of the national drowning prevention response.
AUSTSWIM is a member of the Australian Water Safety Council, which provides a collective voice for leading water safety organisations, which also includes Royal Life Saving and Surf Life Saving Australia.
“The national conversation about pool infrastructure must include the people who learn in these facilities and the teachers who help keep them safe for life,” Ms Kinross said.
AUSTSWIM encourages governments and planners to include a learn-to-swim and aquatic workforce impact assessment in future aquatic infrastructure planning and funding decisions.