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Multicultural S.A. is working to help reduce beach fatalities and injuries among the State’s new migrant population.
South Australia’s Lieutenant Governor Hieu Van Le, who is also Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, helped launch the South Australian version of a national beach education and surf awareness scheme, at Middleton Beach.
The launch followed consultations between Surf Life Saving South Australia and ethnic community leaders after a spate of drownings, three involving people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
The On the Same Wave program is aimed at culturally and linguistically diverse communities, especially new arrivals, urging them to become surf lifesavers and to learn surf safety.
Mr Le said new migrants, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, and those who have no experience of dangerous surf conditions, were particularly at risk. “On the Same Wave will give a wide range of people a chance to learn about beach and water safety and hopefully prevent any more drownings,” he said.
On the Same Wave is a partnership between the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and Surf Life Saving Australia (S.L.S.A.) and is being introduced in South Australia after a successful pilot program in New South Wales.
S.L.S.A. Chief Executive Officer, Brett Williamson, said the image of the Australian surf lifesaver was synonymous with the beach, and had become a national icon, but had remained essentially a white, Anglo-Celtic organisation. He said that if S.L.S.A. was to maintain its relevancy as a community based organisation, it needed to be more representative of the Australian community.
Below right: Lieutenant Governor Hieu Van Le, Surf Life Saving South Australia General Manager Elaine Farmer and SLSSA Diversity Manager Stephen Cornish at the launch of ‘On the Same Wave’.
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