JUNE CEO UPDATE
June has been a time of both significant work and reward for Life Saving Victoria, our volunteers, aquatic industry partners and stakeholders.
Our Research team has completed LSV’s annual Aquatic Injury Prevention Agenda, which brings together the most recent studies and data from Australia and the world to give insights into the complexities and challenges around reducing drowning deaths.
By tracking critical factors including locations, activities, behaviours and demographics from year-to-date fatal drowning data, this document shines a light on current drowning trends and progress against state and national priority areas.
I encourage everyone to read the document here: Aquatic-Injury-Prevention-Agenda-2026-27.pdf. (We know that 82 pages is a lot, so for a lighter read, the two-page executive summary gives a great high-level overview if you’re just after the key messages)
This month, LSV’s Aquatic Capability team launched our new Approved Partner Program, which aims to improve accessibility to high-quality swimming and water safety education across the state.
The Approved Partner Program is a single, centralised partnership and licensing framework. It enables approved third-party partner organisations to deliver LSV endorsed training, education, assessment and professional development activities under one agreement.
This initiative will be key to LSV working together with our partners in the aquatic industry, education, and community sectors to save lives and empower communities to safely enjoy water.
LSV members were also celebrated for their efforts to protect and support the community in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours.
Congratulations to Jan Juc SLSC’s Geoff Thompstone for being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, and to Katrina Antony from Ocean Grove SLSC and Murray Colvin from Lakes Entrance SLSC for receiving the Emergency Services Medal in recognition of their contributions to lifesaving. Several of our members were recognised for a whole host of incredible efforts and achievements outside of lifesaving, and I congratulate and commend you all.
This month, I also had the pleasure of attending Government House alongside LSV’s President and several volunteer members to celebrate and recognise the extraordinary contributions of emergency management workers from across Victoria. It was fantastic to see members from both Lorne and Wye River proudly representing their clubs and LSV, following their efforts in the emergency response to January’s extreme flooding event. Thank you to the Emergency Services Foundation for organising the event, which we know meant a lot to our members. It was a terrific occasion!
I was honoured to join in the celebration of Gunnamatta SLSC’s 60th birthday in June, where more than 150 members came together to recap and reminisce about the club’s humble beginnings and history – to where it is today, as a vibrant and successful team of volunteers and lifeguards that protect the community at one of the most high-risk locations in the state. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing dinner and stories with members, celebrating the club’s amazing award recipients and topped it off with the cutting of the cake – Congratulations on a great 60 years GSLSC!!
As always, our aquatic partners, members and volunteers continue to represent our organisation and the lifesaving movement with distinction. When the community is in need, you step up, and for that, we are all immensely grateful and proud.
Yours in lifesaving,
Cath