Are you able to speak multiple languages? Do you live in Eastern or South-Eastern Sydney? Are you looking for opportunities to learn, volunteer, educate your community and gain skills towards employment? This program might be for you.

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I love volunteering with Surf Life Saving NSW. It is a great opportunity to engage with such a popular aquatic industry organisation, and being able to help the community in a volunteer capacity.

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Why does this program exist?

NSW is one of Australia’s most culturally diverse states with nearly one-third of NSW residents identifying in the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census that they were born overseas. South Eastern and Eastern Sydney is a very diverse community made up of a many cultures. The need to promote and improve water safety is clearly a priority among people of diverse backgrounds and we would like to promote safe beach behaviours throughout all of our community.

Some key statistics from recent reports and research papers show:

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27%

of drownings were of people born outside of Australia (Royal Life Saving’s 10 Year National Study Of Overseas Born Drowning Deaths)
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22%

of overseas-born resident drownings occurred at the beach (Australian Water Safety Strategy 2030)
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48%

of coastal drownings were of people born overseas (2020 Surf Life Saving NSW Coastal Safety Report)

Not sure if this program is for you? Come along to an information session and find out more...

INFORMATION SESSION 1: Completed.

INFORMATION SESSION 2: Saturday the 11th of December 2021 at 11:00 AM.

What is involved in this program?

To become a volunteer you will need to attend an information session as well as a training day. Once you have successfully completed this you will be able to volunteer with us helping communities attending the beach to better understand beach safety and how they can keep themselves and their families safe while enjoying the beach. You will do this by providing members of the community with beach safety information both in English and in your own language. Please see below for more information.

Stage 1: Attend an information session.

A total of 2 information sessions will be held on Saturday the 6th of November 2021 at 10:30 AM and on Tuesday the 9th of November 2021 at 1 PM. They will be delivered online due to COVID-19 restrictions through Zoom. These sessions will provide all the information you will need about the program and will give you the opportunity to ask questions.

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Stage 2: Training Session & program induction

One training session will be conducted face-to-face for successful applicants. The training will be led by Surf Life Saving NSW and supported by Royal Life Saving NSW. The training will take place over one full day and include theoretical and practical components around water safety knowledge as well as public speaking and communication skills. You must successfully complete training to progress to stage 3.

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Stage 3: Start Volunteering!

A total of 4-6 sessions, each 4 hours long, will be run on Saturdays between February 2021 - March 2022 across beaches in Waverley and Sutherland Shire Councils. At each session, volunteers will be rostered along with one Committee representative to attend a nominated beach. Over the 4 hours, volunteers will casually approach and engage with beach users and start conversations about staying safe in the water.

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The SES Bilingual Water Safety Volunteers Program is made up and financially supported by the following organisations:

Surf Life Saving logo
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Sutherland Shire Council
Waverly council logo
Gymea Community Aid & Information Service
TAFE NSW logo

SES Bilingual Water Safety Volunteers Documents:

SES Bilingual Water Safety Volunteers Program Flyer
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Bilingual Water Safety Volunteer Role Position Description
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FAQ's

Do I need to be able to swim to participate in this program?

No. While we always encourage people to learn to swim, you do not need swimming skills to apply to this program.

No. You will not need to enter the water at any time as part of this program. All volunteer duties will take place on the sand and out of the water.

In order to successfully complete training you will need to have a good level of English – but your English does not need to be perfect.

No. Just one. We have given you two options to choose from.

Yes. It will be compulsory for applicants to attend one session to progress in the recruitment process. After completion of the information sessions, applicants who are interested in continuing with the program will be required to complete the Applicant Information Form.