2016 Annual Report

It is my pleasure to present this report as Chair of the Board of Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ).

Last year began with the launch of the New Zealand Water Safety Sector Strategy 2020 by the Minister of Recreation and Sport, the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman. We welcome the Minister’s ongoing commitment to support the sector in this important work. We will continue to work with central government to secure greater surety of funding so that we can plan and invest in confidence in the programmes, education and awareness required to make water safety a priority for all New Zealanders.

The new sector strategy represents a stake in the ground to reduce the number of Kiwis who drown in our water each year. Our targets are ambitious – and achieving them will require greater collaboration and careful use of what are very limited resources. We want to ensure that the sector is well supported and sustainably funded.

We know that water safety sector capability is not keeping pace with the growing levels of aquatic participation and the new risks this presents. Costs are rising, we are impacted by recent changes in health and safety legislation, and the public has a growing expectation for rescue services to be available when and where they are. Meeting these expectations is not always realistic given the pressures on organisations such as Coastguard and Surf Life Saving New Zealand.

We have no drug and alcohol limits for recreational boating, school pools are being closed due to high maintenance costs, and there remain unknown risks attached to the upcoming repeal of the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act. To address these complex issues, the sector will be working with Sport New Zealand and ACC to consider the wide ranging issue of sector capability in the next year.

Engagement and collaboration with member and partner organisations remains a key priority for the Board and staff. We work hard to present a unified view on key issues to better achieve collective impact. I thank everyone who has attended and participated fully in our sector forums and governance meetings. These have greatly helped to inform and align our thinking on shared issues of concern.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank fellow sector Board members, staff and volunteers for the many hours of work behind the scenes and on the front line.

All of our work would not be possible without the incredible support and investment of the New Zealand’ Lottery Grants Board’s Outdoor Safety Committee, Sport New Zealand, ACC and our commercial partners and philanthropic trusts. Thank you for your investment and confidence in us.

I’d like to acknowledge Mark Lindsay and the WSNZ team. During a challenging time you all continued to make substantial inroads on our work programme to support achievement of our 2020 goals.

We also welcome in a new Chief Executive Jonty Mills and look forward to his leadership over the coming months and years ahead.

A special thank you to departing Board members Jane Mitchell and John Cowan – our gratitude to you for the years of excellent service to the sector.

We all share a vision in which New Zealanders can and do enjoy the water safely. As we head towards another summer campaign a statement that sums up the state of play is: He waka eke noa – we’re all in this together. We believe that it is only together as a united water safety sector that we will be truly effective in preventing drowning in our communities.

Nga mihi
Danny Tuato’o, Chair

Work undertaken by Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) in 2015/16 shows that each New Zealand drowning death costs our society $3.984 million dollars. The average annual cost of total drowning deaths is in the order of $410 million. Over 10 years, this represents a total cost of around $4.79 billion. But however high these financial costs are, they pale in comparison to the personal tragedy suffered by the families and loved ones of each man, woman and child who drowns unnecessarily in this country.

New Zealanders continue to die at an appalling rate in our waters – some 96 preventable deaths in 2015/16. While this was a reduction on the prior year, drowning deaths and injuries continue to be New Zealand’s unrecognised crisis. The drowning problem demands a much greater scale of response from New Zealanders – as individuals we need to take greater responsibility for the safety of ourselves and others around water: wear lifejackets; actively supervise our children; stop and think about the risks before we go into water; swim between the flags; and know our limits. These messages are clear, consistent and life saving.

In the last year WSNZ consolidated its role as a national leadership agency for the water safety sector; focusing on policy, advocacy and investment funding to reduce drownings. The launch of the New Zealand Water Safety Sector Strategy 2020 was a significant milestone. It presents a collective vision and ambitious drowning prevention targets, and a plan to meet those targets within the next five years.

The strategy acknowledges that we need to deliver nothing less than a cultural change where every New Zealander takes responsibility for improving their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour around water.  This is the big idea that sits at the heart of the strategy.

There have been a number of highlights this year. Following a long process of consultation, WSNZ developed an agreed set of Water Skills For Life for 5-13 year olds. These new national aquatic education standards will be rolled out over the next year to ensure that every New Zealand child learns the foundation skills to be safe in the water.

Our funding policy review will move WSNZ from being a demand driven, annual funding allocator to a targeted strategic investor. Increasingly, we will invest in the long-term capability development of water safety organisations and in programmes that support growth in regional and community drowning prevention.

In association with ACC we ran a successful Stop Think Go water safety campaign over summer. When combined with public awareness campaigns such as Safer Boating Week led by Maritime NZ, we are working on a broad front to increase the public’s understanding of the risks posed by our waterways.

Our major advocacy work this year was to connect the water safety sector with the child safety and child health sectors, to oppose proposals for the Building (Pools) Amendment Bill and the repeal of the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987. This collective advocacy helped secure some major changes in the Bill, which will lessen the risk to young children around home pools. We will monitor and report on any changes to the safety of home pools that may result from this change of legislation.

Our sponsors are critical to the success of our work. Thank you to Sealord for their continued support of our Swim for Life, and now the Water Skills for Life initiative. Our thanks to Garnier, Protector Aluminium, Intergroup, Waikato Filtration and Bunnings for working with us on our Save our School Pools campaign. It is critical that we save our local school pools to retain the birthright of Kiwi kids to learn water safety.

The New Zealand public and government get huge value for money from a water safety sector that runs predominantly on non-government funding, sponsorships and the work of volunteers. But this funding structure needs to change. During the year ahead, WSNZ will explore opportunities for new drowning prevention partnerships within central and local government, civil society and the private sector.

I would like to acknowledge two long-standing team members who left during the year, former Chief Executive Matt Claridge and Partnership and Sector Development Manager Cory Sweeney. Matt and Cory’s work made a substantial contribution to drowning reduction in New Zealand.

I also wish to thank members of the Cross Sector Reference Group leaving our industry this year – Swimming New Zealand CEO Christian Renford and WAI CEO Jonny Gritt. Both have been valued contributors to development of the water safety sector’s collective strategy. I am pleased to acknowledge the appointment of new WSNZ Chief Executive Jonty Mills, and new Water Safe Auckland CEO Jonathon Webber, and look forward to working with them. Finally, my thanks to the Board and team at WSNZ. The last six months have been a time of change and challenge and I have been grateful for everyone’s support and commitment.

Enjoying the water is a core part of our New Zealand culture. But our waters are cold, swift, remote, unpredictable and often threatening. We want all generations of New Zealanders to enjoy this birthright without the risk of injury or death by drowning. This is the challenge that gives purpose and passion to our every working day.

Naku noa, na.
Mark Lindsay, Acting Chief Executive