01/12/2025
It's the first day of summer and Australians love nothing more than swimming to cool off - In Australia drowning is one of the leading causes of death and injury in children under five in Australia.
Stay within arm’s reach around water. No child should drown.
NSW saw the highest number of drowning deaths in 2023 - 2024 since the National Fatal Drowning Database records began in 2002. The greatest increase in drowning deaths of children was those aged 5 -14 years. Drowning occurred mainly from an unintentional fall into water.
From July 2024 to March 2025, there has been approximately 50 presentations to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick, and the Children's Hospital Westmead, for fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents. Over half of the children brought to the hospitals for drowning related incidents have been under the age of 4 years old.
In NSW, the risk of a drowning incident is highest between the 25 December and 2 January, during heatwaves and in the afternoons. NSW is predicted to see hotter days, prolonged days of higher temperatures and more frequent heatwaves, so it’s important to be attentive around water this summer.
A drowning incident does not need to be fatal to have serious consequences. Non-fatal drowning incidents can result in serious lifelong health issues, including organ and brain damage, with devastating lifelong effects for survivors and families. Children are at the most risk for non-fatal drowning incidents.
