Bass Coast champions coastal safety and pool funding on national stage
Bass Coast Shire Council has joined forces with other local councils around Australia to demand urgent federal action on coastal hazards and aquatic facilities.
STEPPING up efforts to secure funding for aquatic centres in Wonthaggi and Phillip Island Bass Coast Shire joined forces with other local councils from around Australia to demand urgent federal action on coastal hazards and aquatic facilities.
Meeting in Canberra for the National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA) the assembly served as a forum for local leaders to debate national policies, advocate for federal funding, and address sector-wide challenges.
Bass Coast Shire Council utilised the assembly to champion two major motions aimed at protecting coastal infrastructure and securing the future of regional public pools.
Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari praised the solidarity shown by local government representatives from every corner of the country. “I found it very encouraging that councils across the nation stood as one to ask the federal government to restore levels of funding for local government back to one per cent,” Cr Tessari said.
“It was also great to work with Yass Valley Council, Newcastle City Council, Shire of Campaspe, and Moyne Shire Council to advocate for sustainable pool funding.”
With public swimming pools and aquatic facilities facing severe renewal backlogs across regional Victoria and Australia Bass Coast Shire Council partnered with Royal Life Saving Society Australia to call for ongoing national funding dedicated to the renewal, replacement, and modernisation of council-owned public swimming pools.
The motion argued that aquatic facilities must be recognised as essential community infrastructure, rather than luxury amenities. For regional communities like Bass Coast, public pools were seen as vital hubs for health, social connection, and water safety education. However, acknowledging the skyrocketing costs of asset renewal and compliance, councils noted they can no longer shoulder the financial burden alone.
With kilometres of highly vulnerable coastline under its jurisdiction Bass Coast led the charge for a nationally coordinated approach to coastal hazards noting the essential role local governments play to eliminate drowning and empower communities to be safe around water.
According to alarming new research from the Royal Life Saving Society almost half of Australian Year 6 students cannot meet national swimming benchmarks. The study revealed that 48 per cent of Year 6 students were unable to swim 50 metres and tread water for two minutes.
This critical inability to swim the length of a public pool persisted into adolescence leaving thousands of teenagers vulnerable to drowning as they enter early adulthood. The standard did not improve in secondary school with teachers estimating that 39 per cent of Year 10 students still fail to achieve the basic Year 6 competency.
Even more concerning was that 84 per cent of 15 to 16-year-olds could not swim 400 metres and tread water for five minutes which is the benchmark for older teenagers.
Institutional barriers aggravated the crisis, with 31 per cent of schools failing to offer any learn-to-swim programs due to budget constraints, staffing shortages, and strict time limits. Consequently, the educational burden fell entirely on parents. Royal Life Saving Australia CEO Dr Justin Scarr urged immediate, coordinated funding to reinforce school swimming initiatives and prevent further tragedy.
Bass Coast Shire Council said it would continue to leverage local government partnerships and follow up with local federal members to keep the pressure on pool funding and coastal hazard mitigation.
