By Sibanengi Dube
Brimbank council resolved to introduce a pilot water safety program to equip parents and their children with water survival skills to avoid drowning.
At a recent council meeting, councillors resolved to write to the state government to request additional financial support to deliver a free pilot water safety program for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) pre-school children and their families in Brimbank.
Brimbank Aquatic Centre and Sunshine Leisure Centre were identified as suitable training sites.
The motion put to council was informed by the need to maximise safety at Brimbank swimming pools to minimise incidents of drowning.
Cr Virginia Tachos identified cultural diversity, language barriers and COVID-19 pandemic as possible challenges to delivering swimming lessons to residents.
“Water safety is a priority but as Brimbank, the specific support we’re asking is that current state government-funded water awareness and swimming lesson programs mainly focus on school-aged children, where there is a specific need for state government funding and support for at-risk CALD preschool children and their families in Brimbank,” Cr Tachos said.
Cr Tachos said 160 different languages were spoken by residents of Greater Melbourne, which she said was a hindrance to learning swimming lessons.
“According to Life Saving Victoria 35 of drowning deaths are for people born overseas and the global COvid-19 pandemic impacted Brimbank significantly and led to temporary closure of leisure centres which impacted on swimming lessons for approximately two years,” she said.
Cr Maria Kerr said she noticed how parents and children lack water skills each time she takes her children for swimming.
“It’s really imperative that we offer some support for preschool children, I see it first-hand, the lack of knowledge in water safety by parents and children when I take my kids to Brimbank Aquatic Centre,” she said.
