In a bid to combat climbing drowning rates, a nationwide campaign is moving early to get water safety messages to children and families before summer arrives. Spring Safe Storytime will launch with 600 libraries, schools, childcare centres, playgroups and community organisations across Australia hosting free, engaging and educational water safety-themed events throughout spring. The campaign is a partnership between Kids Alive Do the Five, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and the Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA). This collaboration aims to inspire conversations about water safety through the crucial work that libraries, schools and childcare centres are already doing to improve early literacy outcomes for children across Australia. After Australia recorded its highest number of drowning deaths (357) on record last year, Kids Alive Founder Laurie Lawrence said ongoing education was critical for preventing another devastating toll this summer.

“We don’t want to wait until summer is over to talk about water safety,” Mr Lawrence commented. “We want families talking about how to stay safe around water all the time. if we can start those conversations early and keep repeating those simple safety messages, we have a much better chance of preventing tragedy.”

While Australia has made significant long-term progress in reducing drowning among young children, 15 little ones (aged 0-4) drowned last year, with more than half (53) occurring in backyard swimming pools and another 13% at home in places like baths. Kids Alive National Operations Manager Emma Lawrence said the figures reinforced why water safety education needed to reach families well beyond the swimming pool.

“Children encounter water everywhere, at home, at grandparents’ houses, on holidays, at the beach, around dams and waterways. Not every child is currently in swimming lessons, and not every family has the same access to swimming and water safety education, but families do visit libraries, schools, childcare centres and community organisations. Spring Safe Storytime will allow us to take important safety messages into places families already know and trust.”

Research into Kids Alive’s water safety book series also showed how stories translated into real-world action. It found 65% of readers were prompted to take action on water safety, including supervising children more closely, checking their environment for hazards and reinforcing safe water behaviours. The books were also rated as useful for learning about water safety by 96 % of respondents, while 94% rated them as an engaging way to teach water safety. Cathie Warburton, CEO of ALIA, said the results further demonstrated the multitude of benefits that storytime brings.

“Children learn through stories, pictures, songs and repetition, yet less than half of young children in Australia are read to regularly. With Spring Safe Storytime we can respond on two critical issues – improving early literacy and water safety awareness – and this could be lifesaving,” Ms Warburton commented.

Families can find details of participating Spring Safe Storytime organisations.

Research

• Royal Life Saving Australia and Surf Life Saving Australia – National Drowning Report 2025
• Are Media Research / Bounty Parents – Wise Owl Book Series Evaluation, April 2024
• Australian Institute of Family Studies – Parent Reading Habits Survey 2024