According to the Swim Safer Report commissioned by Swim Australia as part of SwimSAFER Week, more than half (55%) of children do not attend swimming lessons, while 41% of parents have no intention of enrolling their child despite summer being the peak drowning season.
Swim Australia CEO Brendan Ward is urging parents to prioritise swimming as a skill every child needs.
The organisation is also working with migrant communities to spread the message of safety swimming.
"We work with some migrant communites and we got some great safety tips and one of the things we're looking at is how to translate them in different languages to have a broader reach."
He adds they also launched the 'Swim It Forward' initiative by raising funds to help families access free swimming lessons and to help the swimming industry which has been severely affected by the pandemic.
"One of the things we came to do is go out to migrant and disadvanatged communities across Australia and say how can we get some of your children into swimming lessons to give them some of those core life skills."
Mr Ward encourages people who are not a hundred per cent confident about their swimming skills to practice in the swimming pool first as this is the most safe aquatic environment.
"I think the swimming pool is the best place for people to acquire skills to build up their stamina and fitness and refamrilarise themselves with the water. If you're thinking of going to the beach, river or lake maybe think about getting into the swimming pool first before going into those dangerous environments."
