Almost 2,000 indigenous students across years 1-6 have gained critical water safety and survival skills at SWELL Palmerston this year, all thanks to the venue’s free Swim and Survive school swimming program. This includes 40 youth from the remote town of Kalkarindji, who travelled more than 12 hours to take part.
For the Kalkarindji students, the trip was a rare and vital opportunity. With no access to commercial swimming pools in their community, travelling to Palmerston was the only way they could complete the Northern Territory Government’s requirement of students to complete eight 45‑minute swimming lessons.
The importance of programs such as Swim and Survive cannot be overstated. Royal Life Saving research shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are 1.7 times more likely to drown, with an average of 177 drownings each year in regional and remote Australia. These figures highlight the urgent need for culturally inclusive water safety education, particularly in regions rich with rivers, creeks and swimming holes.
Header image: Swim and Survive students with swim teachers Paxton (Left) and OJ (Right).
The Kalkarindji cohort completed the full Swim and Survive program and are already showing promising results in both confidence and capability in the water – a vital step toward reducing drowning risk in remote communities.
SWELL Palmerston Venue Manager Ashley Stephens said the transformation in students’ skills over the eight‑day program was remarkable.
“I have seen a lot of children this year who are either afraid to put their heads under the water, cannot float and don’t know how to rescue themselves or a friend if they needed to. Eight days later, those same kids were dunking, diving, swimming, floating and even using rescue equipment.”
Throughout the eight Swim and Survive sessions, students made significant progress across basic swimming strokes, floating, treading water and rescue techniques, equipping them with practical, life‑saving skills they can rely on beyond the pool environment.
The free school swimming program has now completed a successful pilot year, funded by Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finnochiaro and the NT Government. Building on this success, the SWELL Palmerston team is working toward an ambitious long‑term goal of zero drowning deaths in the Northern Territory.
Ashley continued: “It has been an honour to be a part of this program, which has given me confidence that we can significantly lower the drowning statistics for children in the Northern Territory, particularly supporting Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Aligned with Belgravia Leisure’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, the Swim and Survive program strengthens relationships with remote Aboriginal communities, promotes cultural safety in aquatic education and supports Belgravia Leisure’s vision for equitable access and zero drowning deaths in the Northern Territory.
To learn more about SWELL’s programs, visit the SWELL Palmerston website here.
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