More than 100 people are likely to drown in Australia over summer, easily topping the previous year's tally for the peak season.
Royal Life Saving Australia has projected the triple-figure drowning tally after what its chief executive Justin Scarr described as "an absolutely tragic" 2023/24 summer to date.
There were 72 drownings between the start of December and the end of January, according to the organisation's figures.
That total was a 24 per cent increase from the previous summer, when 90 people drowned, and a four per cent rise on the five-year average.
The rise in deaths over the past year had multiple underlying causes that public policy ought to address, Mr Scarr said.
"We've had lots of hot weather, we've also had significant flooding."
The drowning toll in Queensland increased by 60 per cent from the previous summer with over half caused by flooding in the wake of Cyclone Jasper in December.
"There's (also) an underlying issue of community swimming skills," Mr Scarr said.
"We've had a few years during COVID where people weren't able to access lessons or swimming pools."
Mr Scarr called for a national review into children's swimming skills and for increased funding for teaching programs and community pools.
"Non-swimming children become adults at significant risk of drowning," he said.
Mr Scarr added that people were using remote, unpatrolled beaches in larger numbers.
"Those locations are a long, long way from lifeguards or help," he said, adding that those dangers could be addressed by funding lifesaving programs in national parks.
Four people died at an unpatrolled beach on Victoria's Phillip Island in January, the worst drowning incident in the state in about 20 years.
Royal Life Saving Australia urges people to practise water safety measures including swimming in groups, supervising children and avoiding alcohol.
Australian Associated Press
