Water safety in New Zealand

New Zealand has one of the worst drowning rates in the world. The New Zealand Curriculum now does not have learn to swim as an objective. This means that not as many children are being taught to swim as formerly. By 2030 New Zealand can expect 150-180 drownings per year
Deaths in New Zealand
Drowning statistics in New Zealand decreased in 2008 compared to drowning in 2007. There were ninety-six drownings in 2008 and eighty-one drownings in 2007. The area that had the most drowning in New Zealand was Auckland.
The 2008 drownings were compared to the average of the five years 2003-2007. These showed that drowning in the river were the highest, meaning that is the most dangerous environment to swim in. The percentage actually increased by 6% over the five-year average.
The age group of between 0 and 14 years of age which were more at risk of drowning, were much lower in both 2008, and the five-year average than the other age group above 14 years of age. This is because of the high expectations on parents actively supervising their children, and also the swimming pool fencing law that came in, in 1987. The highest drowning age group in 2008 were between the ages of 45-54. This was a 51% increase on the previous five-year average. The highest of the five-year average was the 15- to 24-year-olds and the 35- to 44-year-olds.
There is a high representation of Pacific people in drowning compared to their population in New Zealand: 7% of the New Zealand population are Pacific people but account for 9% of the total drownings.
“In 2008, 18 drowned. This is 28% less than the five-year average of 25”, Maori too are over-represented in drowning statistics.
Pool fence information
In 1987 the New Zealand government passed The Fencing of Swimming Pool Act 1987. This was to reduce the high drowning rate in New Zealand involving privately owned pools. Children were tending to slip into the pool and drown while parents were not watching. Because “children drown quietly and quickly” the parents were not aware of their child needing help until it was too late.
The Fencing of swimming Pool Act 1987 states that if there is over 400 mm of water in any sort of pool, whether that is a paddling pool or an inflatable pool, it needs to have a fence around it, with the fence being at least 1.2 m high. This means that no child should be able to get into the pool area without an adult.
Pool gates are also an issue, as it is important that the gate is never left open. To avoid this, these gates should have a self-closing device with tension which can be tightened for extra safety; the latches on the gate should be able to close without resistance and use “magnetic latches for superior results”.
It is the responsibility of the home owner to ensure that their and anyone else’s child are being actively supervised in their pool. This means that the swimmer has the adult’s full attention and the adult is not doing anything else. It takes two minutes to be left alone and one minute to drown.
There are many different types of fencing to choose from in New Zealand so there is no excuse as to why there is no fencing around a pool. For more information see, or Pool fence
Water safety
Water Safety New Zealand has been trying to lower the drowning rate in New Zealand by making people aware of the hazards and obstacles involving water. In the Waikato region they have developed a Waikato Water safety Education Plan 2009-2012. This involves “Coordinating a regional initiative...., identifying and meeting the safety needs of the Waikato region, helping develop water safety programmes...for the Waikato community” and many more objectives.
Water safety in the New Zealand Curriculum
In the New Zealand curriculum it states that “all students will have had the opportunities to learn fundamental aquatic skills by the end of year six”. A research project was undertaken to gather information about issues involving water safety and learning to swim in schools. This helped provide information to the Ministry of Education so they were able to address them.
29% of schools with a pool that rated the adequacy of curriculum very good, felt they were able to effectively provide swimming and water safety; whereas 25% of schools that did not have a pool also felt this way. This indicated that schools that did not have a pool still felt confident enough to find a pool elsewhere and give the students these opportunities.
Schools felt certain factors can influence a student learning to swim and learning water safety. These factors are: the teachers and student’s interest and enthusiasm for swimming, teacher/student ratio, value of swimming in parents’ eyes and, finally, the schools programme.
River safety
Rivers are the number one place where people drowned in 2008 and also between 2003-2007. This is because rivers have many unpredictable characteristics such as rapids and eddies.
Rapids are where the river becomes steep, there are objects blocking the water flow or a huge amount of water is trying to go down a small gap. For a swimmer rapids can become dangerous as the swimmer can get pushed up against rocks. Also they might find it hard to keep their head above the water as “white-water is aerated, meaning it is not very buoyant, so it does not support a swimmer like normal water”.
Eddies are an area of swirling water that is created behind an object in a current. An eddy are usually found in the inside of a corner, these usually head back up stream.
Crossing a river while it is in flood is the most dangerous situation to be in involving the river, 80% of all river drownings have been people trying to cross a river while it is in flood, whether that is in a car or on foot.
For more information visit:
Rivers were a major obstacle for early settlers. Before bridges were built, drownings were so common that it was called the 'New Zealand death'.
TSB TOPEC runs a Be RiverSafe program, believed to be the only specialised course in New Zealand. For more information visit:
Ocean safety
The Surf Safe Rules should be obeyed at all times, see or .
One of the most dangerous things about the sea is the rips, these are areas of moving water that is going back out to sea. To spot a rip, look for foamy water, different coloured water and or crisscrossed water.
Beaches that have waves that break repeatedly next to each other, tend to have a strong undertows and holes. These become dangerous for weak swimmers because the swimmer can easily lose their footing.

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