Community Programs
Our community programs have one purpose – to educate the community about the importance of surf, beach and aquatic safety.
SLSQ works hard in the community to promote surf safety education and awareness as a crucial part of breaking the drowning cycle. Each year we deliver a range of programs that focus on changing behaviours and saving lives through education and an increased understanding of our key beach safety messages. This frontline approach to safety allows the public to make informed, and potentially life-saving, decisions before even stepping onto a beach.
Through targeted programs, educational resources, school and community visits and an increasing presence at selected events, SLSQ is ensuring that high risk groups and the general community can benefit from our comprehensive and engaging surf safety messages.
While we aim to educate all members of the community, we have developed programs to target high-risk groups, including:
- Children aged 5-11
- 18-25 year-old males
- Rural population
- International tourists
- Domestic tourists
- Non-English-speaking populations
The Surf Crew Program
Surf Crew is tailored to the demographic who may not be familiar with Queensland’s coastal conditions and are more at risk of drowning or sustaining an injury at the beach than others. The program sees additional lifesavers and Community Awareness staff visiting busy beach spots along the Gold Coast over summer in a dedicated red and yellow vehicle, with free educational clinics rolled out each day to teach beachgoers how to stay safe in the water.
The Surf Crew vehicle is used year-round to visit local schools and attend key community events. It is equipped with a defibrillator, rescue tube, first aid kit and radios to ensure that SLSQ has additional resources ready to respond immediately in the event of an emergency situation.