Advance Diversity Services (ADS) is committed to supporting multicultural communities through the provision of essential settlement services and responding to our communities needs and interests. This commitment is evident through events like our recent rock fishing and water safety sessions.
Last year, many of the people who drowned while rock fishing were not born in Australia. This includes the tragedy at Kurnell in May 2024, where two international students from Nepal sadly lost their lives. In order to address the identified need for education about Australia’s coastal waters, ADS stepped in to provide targeted water safety training for communities from Nepal, China, India and Ukraine.
In collaboration with Surf Life Saving Australia, Sutherland Shire Council and the Department of Primary Industries, ADS facilitated a practical, hands-on session aimed at equipping local communities, including new arrivals, with the skills and knowledge they need to safely enjoy water-based activities like rock fishing and swimming.
Aiming to prevent further accidents and save lives, the session featured practical, hands-on demonstrations. Participants learned vital skills such as CPR and water safety tips like identifying rips, reading currents and understanding safety signage. They were educated about safe rock fishing practices and the importance of wearing life jackets, especially in designated rock fishing areas. One particularly powerful demonstration saw a facilitator showcase the life-saving effectiveness of life jackets by falling into the water.
Our heartfelt thanks go to the lifeguards from Sutherland Shire Council, Surf Life Saving Australia and the Department of Primary Industries, as well as the many volunteers who made this session possible. Their commitment and expertise ensured that all participants left the session with knowledge and skills to keep them and their loved ones safe as they explore and enjoy coastal areas, whether for fishing or leisure activities.
Shyama Sri, ADS Community Capacity Building Coordinator, stated “Our ongoing partnerships with local organisations play a vital role as we work to educate new arrivals about safety practices tailored to their local community. Water safety forms an important part of the suite of settlement services that ADS provides to all our clients. We are excited to roll out more of these sessions in the future to ensure that these important water safety lessons reach as many people as possible.”
Thanks also to ABC News for interviewing ADS community workers, Rishi Acharya, Ronnie Wang and Inna Gimelberg, then featuring ADS’s Rock Fishing and Water Safety Sessions in a recent article to further promote safe fishing practices to our culturally linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Let’s work together to help prevent future tragedies and ensure everyone can enjoy Australia’s natural beauty safely.