More than 270 Australians drowned in 2018-19, with nearly half of those deaths over summer.
Stacey Pidgeon from the Royal Life Saving Society, told SBS News that while the number of drowning deaths has dropped in the last decade overall, there are certain groups which have pushed these latest numbers up.
"This year we have seen a trend in people from multicultural backgrounds - both across the country and with coastal drownings," she said.
The report listed those from Taiwan, Sudan, South Korea, Nepal and Ireland as the emerging communities at risk.
Rishi Acharya, from the Nepalese Australian Association, is calling for more tailored multicultural programs to avoid future tragedies.
"At the moment, all the resources are either in English, so some of the content may not be appropriate or may not be understandable," he told SBS News.
"If the resources are developed for targeted multicultural communities, that would be good."
