28/07/2026
๐๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฒ
To mark World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July, we joined Royal Life Saving Society WA for their annual World Drowning Prevention Day Breakfast with many other organisations committed to creating safer communities and improving water safety across WA.
The event featured an inspiring panel of speakers, including Colin Hassell OAM, who reflected on his leadership of the Swim Across Australia initiative, Ciara Galega, who shared insights on inclusive water safety programs, and Zainab Hummed from ASeTTS, who highlighted the importance of water safety education for refugees settling in WA.
MEPAU was pleased to attend the event as a proud partner of Royal Life Saving WA โ through the Waitsia Joint Venture, MEPAU and Beach Energy have been supporting the delivery of essential water safety education programs in the Mid West for the last two years, and recently renewed that partnership for a further three years.
Over the next three years, more than 2,100 vulnerable children in the Shires of Irwin, Coorow, Carnamah, and the City of Greater Geraldton will be provided with water safety classes and have access to subsidised Swim and Survive programs, building the confidence and skills needed to stay safe in and around water.
Over the last decade, the Mid West region has recorded WAโs second-highest drowning rate, reflecting the significant need for these programs. Regional children are 3.3 times more likely to drown than those in metropolitan areas, and the Waitsia Joint Venture is committed to addressing that gap.
