Attributing the Social Contribution of Surf Life Saving Australia: Valuing the Social Capital of an Iconic Institution

Designed as a pilot study, the aims of this project are:
  -  Identify activities contributing towards SLSA’s social benefit
  -  Determine SLSA’s indicators of social contribution
  -  Develop SLSA-specific tools to measure those indicators
  -  Consider the application of those tools within SLSA, via extensive piloting
  -  Raise awareness of the social contribution of volunteer activities within the SLSA membership
  -  To contribute to current national compact policy agenda to recognize and promote the social contribution of the third sector

Chief Investigators: Onyx and Edwards
Collaborating Organisation: UTS
Project timeline: 18 months, final report due September 2011
Focus: water safety, lifesaving, sport, development, training

Demographics, Surf Knowledge and Behavioural Response of People Rescued From Rip Currents

This project has been designed as a pilot study in preparation for an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project proposal. The primary objective of this project is to trial various methods of recruiting swimmers who have been caught in rip currents for interview.

Chief Investigators: Drozdzewski, Shaw, Goff, Dominey-Howes, Brander
Collaborating Organisation: School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW
Project timeline: 12 months, final report due June 2011
Focus: water safety, lifesaving

Measurements of Rip Current Flow and Swimmer Behaviour in Australian Rip Currents Using Low-Cost GPS

This project has been designed as a pilot study in preparation for an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project proposal. The primary aim of this project is to trial methods to simultaneously monitor the trajectory of rip flow on both open beach and topographic fixed rip currents on Australian beaches using low-cost Global Positioning System (GPS) devices attached to drifters and human rip floaters.

Chief Investigators: Brander and Turner
Collaborating Organisation: School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW
Project timeline: 6 months, final report December 2010
Focus: water safety, lifesaving

A National Review of Rock Fishing Deaths and Hospitalisations

Aim: To review and report on the epidemiology of rockfishing death and non-fatal injury in Australia and to identify key priorities and strategies for rockfishing injury prevention.

Chief Investigators: Sherker, Matthews, Thompson, Cassell
Collaborating Organisation: Monash University Accident Research Centre
Project timeline: 9 months, final report due July 2011
Focus: water safety, lifesaving, training

Rip Currents: An Evidence Based Approach to Safely Navigating the Beach's Greatest Drowning Hazard

This is a 3-year Australian Research Council Linkage Project and is subject to funding being approved. The aims of this project are:
  -  To define the flow behaviour of a range of Australian rip current systems
  -  To assess the appropriateness and efficacy of various physical responses for swimmers caught in rip currents
  -  To interview swimmers who have been caught in rip currents to ascertain their experience, response and outcomes to being caught in a rip current

Chief Investigators: Brander et al.
Collaborating Organisation: UNSW
Project timeline: 3 years, start date subject to ARC funding
Focus: water safety, lifesaving

Temporal and Spatial Considerations of Aquatic Safety Signage

This project is funded via a Surf Life Saving Internal Research Scheme Grant.

Aim: To gain understanding of the spatial and temporal considerations of aquatic safety signage in order to maximise its effectiveness in terms of recognition and recall.

Chief Investigators: Andronaco and Matthews
Collaborating Organisation: Life Saving Victoria
Project timeline: 12 months, final report due November 2011
Focus: water safety, training

Spinal Injury Management Recommendations Update – Australia

This project is funded via a Surf Life Saving Internal Research Scheme Grant.

The aims of this project are:
  -  To evaluate the evidence for best practice for pre-hospital management of spinal cord injury
  -  To make recommendations to update the ARC Guideline 8.18 and SLSA learner and trainer manuals for the 'Spinal Management Certificate' based on the highest levels of research evidence

Chief Investigators: Grace, Hood, Matthews
Collaborating Organisation: Life Saving Victoria
Project timeline: 6 months, final report due April 2011
Focus: water safety, lifesaving, training

A Review of Surf Sport Injury at Surf Life Saving Surf Sport Competitions and Training

Aim: To review and report on the epidemiology of surf life saving surf sport injury in Australia.

Chief Investigators: Sherker, Wright, Thompson, Sinclair
Collaborating Organisation: SLSA Sport
Project timeline: 9 months, final report due September 2011
Focus: water safety, sport, development, training

Valuing an Australian Icon: The Economic and Social Contribution of Surf Lifesaving in Australia

Aim: To update the original SLSA report which identified the value of surf lifesaving to the Australian community by looking at both the direct value of volunteer surf lifesavers to beachgoers; and the wider community impacts arising as a result of volunteer surf lifesaving.

Collaborating Organisation: The Allen Consulting Group, PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Project timeline: The final report will be released shortly.
Focus: Water safety, lifesaving, sport, development, training.

CoastSafe

Australian CoastSafe is the strategic and intelligence beach safety unit of Surf Life Saving Australia, developed to gather data on all beaches around Australia and establish a framework to deliver a safer aquatic environment.

CoastSafe provides support for surf lifesavers and lifeguards, but even more practically, offers cost-effective benefits to all levels of government, private developers and the tourism industry to reduce the risk of injury or death around the coast.

CoastSafe has a number of key components - each has individual merit and when combined, they provide the most comprehensive beach safety management program in the world.  These are made up of:
1.    The Australian Coastal Public Safety Guidelines
2.    The Australian Beach Safety and Management Program
3.    A suite of Coastal Safety & Risk Management Services

Australian CoastSafe will be overseeing the distribution and consultation phases of the development of the Australian Coastal Public Safety Guidelines. More information on CoastSafe can be found here.

BeachSafe

Continued research by our member groups, partners and volunteers enables Surf Life Saving Australia to provide the most up to date safety related information about our aquatic and coastal environment.

Surf Life Saving Australia, with the support of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, WhereIs and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, has developed BeachSafe. The online resource, also available as a Smartphone application, offers current air and water temperature, tide, wind and swell conditions, UV Index and other detailed beach and patrol information.

For more information about research at Surf Life Saving Australia, please contact Dr Shauna Sherker on research@slsa.asn.au.

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