World Drowning Prevention Day 2026

Published on 23 July 2026

This World Drowning Prevention Day, Active Monash is more dedicated than ever to providing safe aquatic environments and is uniting to Turn the Tide.

Drowning deaths are preventable, with the global goal being to reduce drowning by 35% by 2035. It is important to ensure that we are all doing our part to prevent drowning, from education, policies and guidelines to implementation of safety features and requirements around bodies of water.

Globally, drowning:

• Is responsible for more than 300,000 deaths per year
• Almost a quarter of which are children under 5
• It is one of the top 10 causes of death in children between the ages of 5 – 14 years
• During the 2025-26 Summer, Australia recorded 81 drowning deaths from 1 December, equal to almost one drowning for each day of Summer. 
• 53% were in Regional Australia
• 31% were in metropolitan areas 

What you can do to stay safe in and around water

• Know and swim according to your swimming abilities
• Adhere to the Watch Around Water regulations for children under the age of 10
• Avoid drinking and recreational drugs whilst swimming and/or around water
• Wear appropriate life saving gear, such as a life jacket, when required
• Don’t swim alone
• Always be alert to changing conditions, lifeguard directions and designated swimming zones
• Swim between the red and yellow flags at a patrolled beach

Our Watch Around Water Policy

Children need supervision around water! Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children under five years of age and almost half of all injuries recorded at public swimming pools involve children.

The Watch Around Water (WAW) campaign aims to educate our customers about active supervision and encourage parents/guardians to take on the responsibility of supervision within our centres. The policy assists aquatic staff to promote safe supervision practices and provide a safe venue for the community to participate in sport and recreation.

Public swimming pools continue to be the safest environment for our community to swim. At Active Monash we value you and your child’s safety and as a result, have reviewed our Watch Around Water policy, this has been updated to include the wearing of yellow wristbands for children 5-9 years old and pink wristbands for children under the age of 5 years old.

Children participating in lessons under the supervision of an instructor will be required to wear a wristband during the lesson. Parents are still required to supervise their child poolside during the lesson and children should be easily and quickly identified.

Children under 5 years old (0-4 years old):

• Must be within arm’s reach and constantly supervised by a parent/guardian.
• Must be accompanied by a parent/guardian in the water and remain within arm's reach at all times.

Children under 10 years old (5-9 years old):

• Must be wearing a WAW wristband while recreation swimming.
• Will not be admitted without an appropriate parent/guardian. The parent/guardian must be 16 years and over and adhere to all conditions of entry.
• Must be constantly supervised by a parent/guardian while in the aquatic area of the centre.
• Must be clearly visible to a parent/guardian with no physical or structural barriers between them and the guardian.