Champions in the surf and beyond
How Surf Life Saving Australia upholds integrity and humanity
There are few sports that can boast participation from the grassroots to the high performance space along with providing an essential community service; but that’s exactly the case for Surf Life Saving Australia and its thousands of members. On beaches across the nation, lifesavers rescue an average of 30 people per day and conduct 451 preventative actions every hour.
Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is Australia’s peak coastal water safety, drowning prevention and rescue authority, however it also provides opportunities for its members to partake in competitive activities allowing aspiring surf lifesaving athletes the opportunity to turn their lifesaving community service into a sporting endeavour.
Athletes wishing to compete in SLSA sporting events must first be a surf lifesaver. Competition eligibility stipulates proficiency and patrol hour requirements for all members wishing to compete at SLSA Championship events.
SLSA Head of Mission, Peter George, said it’s what makes the sport so unique.
“We’re possibly the only sport in the world that has a humanitarian background; you have to be a surf lifesaver to be compete in our sport,” he said.
“We’re number one in the world in terms of life saving sport; both our open and youth have won back-to-back titles over the last four years,” Peter said.
“We have a number of Olympic swimmers, kayak paddlers and runners who have a surf lifesaving background. It's a sport that’s high profile in terms of the quality of the athletes, but each one of those athletes need to be a lifesaver first.”
Peter has 60 years’ continuous service with SLSA and is passionate about the work of the organisation.
“I get the privilege of reading some of the rescues that people do; big seas, enormous challenges…every one of those rescues is inspiring,” Peter said.
“We do 8–10,000 rescues every year. If we weren't on the beach doing those rescues around 800 to 1300 people would die every year.”
In those 60 years, Peter has seen SLSA evolve in delivery of both the volunteering and competitive sport arms of the organisation, in particular, with regard to integrity.
With around 60,000 children aged 5 to 15 involved in the Nippers program, it’s vital that SLSA has a strong focus on the protection of children and young people. SLSA's policies have been assessed by Sport Integrity Australia as meeting the Sport Integrity Policy Standards. SLSA has developed a Child Safe Policy, Child Safe Commitment Statement along with Child Safe Guideline.
But the commitment doesn’t stop there. There are numerous policies and procedures in place from Nippers all the way through to SLSA’s Silver Salties program (over 60s) governing all activities for the sport of surf lifesaving to ensure safety and fairness for all.
‘Aussies’: SLSA’s pinnacle event
Earlier this year members of the SIA team – education and anti-doping – were onsite at Aussies, the national Surf Lifesaving Championships. It’s the largest surf lifesaving event in Australia and the largest event of its kind in the world.
It has a rich 110-year history, and is an event every surf lifesaver wants to attend. Taking up more than a one kilometre stretch of Kirra Beach, more than 7,500 athletes converged on the Gold Coast for Aussies 2025.
Aussies showcases the athletic prowess of surf lifesaving – from youth through to open and masters – and with a festival vibe; there’s plenty of action on the beach and in the sea.
As a rule, SLSA takes a risk management and evidence-based approach to coastal safety to ensure appropriate public education programs, mitigation strategies and lifesaving services are in place to address coastal safety issues, hence risk management runs deep within the organisation.
For an event the size of Aussies, contingency plans have been developed for almost every scenario – from having to move the event due to dangerous surf, marine animals, lightning – you name it, there's a contingency plan.
Wayne Drury is Sport Manager at SLSA and has the enormous task of overseeing operations for Aussies.
The safety of competitors, members, officials and volunteers is his primary concern.
So just how tough is it to manage an event the magnitude of Aussies and ensure everyone can compete in a safe and fair environment?
The Aussies team is a well-oiled safety vessel, involving emergency services (front and back of beach), Bureau of Meteorology and local council in all of their activities over the 9-day event.
“We do a risk rating every morning on the surf conditions that takes into account the nature of the swell along with the weather,” Wayne said.
“We have a morning safety meeting, we go through that risk rating and then make a recommendation to the competition committee who decides on how competition proceeds on that day.
“As an event that often has multiple water areas operating, we have a safety officer in each area who is linked back to the head of safety, which is all controlled centrally through SLSA’s event Control Centre.”
Add to that radars and drones that monitor the situation – swells, change in weather conditions and/or marine life – all day for nine days, there’s a strong foundation of safety across the entire Aussies event.
Wayne has been in his current position for seven years. Prior to that he was on the volunteer side in the technical delivery, as an official, referee, and Director of Sport in Sydney, hence he’s been involved in the SLSA movement for many years.
It’s an organisation that he loves and a team that he’s proud to lead.
“We link in with an enormous amount of expertise across our volunteer ranks to deliver a phenomenal event.
“My team, and the team of volunteers that we have, cover safety, technical delivery, IRB (Inflatable Rescue Boat) support and medical, and that team is focused on always improving this event.
“It was a great event 20 and 30 years ago, but as times change, and to remain relevant, we need to be on that road to continuous improvement – and we are definitely on that road,” Wayne said.
Three cheers for SLSA volunteers!
As every major sporting event organiser knows, sport doesn’t happen without an army of volunteers. More than 500 volunteers stepped into official roles for Aussies 2025.
Jenny Kenny was Deputy Referee at Aussies and is also the National Officials Advisor at SLSA.
She joined SLSA in 1980 when women could first do their bronze medallion. Living in Tasmania, her early years were a ‘cold' surf life saving experience.
The team at SLSA take great care in looking after their volunteers. There’s provision of clothing (including high vis gear), food and drinks, and shade and sunscreen. Time is also taken to check in on volunteers during the day and placing each volunteer in a role that best suits their skill set.
Jenny’s happy to give up her time and volunteer because of the collegiately of SLSA and the opportunities that are afforded to members.
“If you’re a lifesaver you can do just about anything!” she said.
“You can be in leadership, you can patrol, you can compete, you can officiate, you can be an administrator; you gain skills through this organisation that serves the public.”
Jenny said it’s also a sport where the competition is fierce, but athletes never lose sight of their strong link to community service.
“We had a moment during the beach flags event – where people dive into the sand to get the flags – a guy broke his arm and one of his competitors, instead of trying to win the flag, immediately went to check on his fellow competitor to make certain he was OK.
“It's that sort of sporting environment – if somebody's in difficulty, you stop doing what you're doing, and you help out.”
With an ageing volunteer base and new blood needed for the organisation, Jenny encouraged anyone interested in surf lifesaving to give it a go.
“You can do it purely as a community service, or you can do it as a sport as well, from 5-years-old right through to 90 – the age of one of our officials – which is pretty amazing.”
