Hutt City Council

• 

  Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis

  Hutt City Council

In his keynote address, Daniel Gerrard, CEO of Water Safety New Zealand, will deliver an impassioned call to action, urging the audience to confront the harsh realities of New Zealand’s persistent drowning challenge. Gerrard will draw from his deeply personal and provocative writings, highlighting the emotional toll and human cost of drowning tragedies that have stubbornly persisted, with an average of 85 deaths annually over the past two decades.

Invoking the Shirky Principle, Gerrard will question whether we are more invested in organisational survival than in solving the problem of drowning. He will argue for a fundamental shift towards a Kiwi-focused model that prioritises those most at risk, advocating for a customer-based approach over organisational survival. Highlighting the disparity in funding between high-visibility campaigns and long-term preventive measures, Gerrard will emphasise the need for sustainable prevention, intergenerational change through education, skill-building, and targeted support for high-risk groups and locations.

Gerrard will reflect on the critical question, “How many is too many?” to underscore the ongoing need for a cultural shift in attitudes towards water safety. This powerful message aims to remind colleagues, partners and those ‘in charge’ of the importance of water safety and the collective effort required to prevent drownings.

“How many is too many?”

• 

  Daniel Gerrard

  Chief Executive at Water Safety New Zealand

Te Mahi Ako is thrilled to honour ākonga in the Senior Pool Lifeguard qualification.
Reflecting on their experiences and sharing of their expertise. Three lifeguards will be showcasing their
pūkenga on a range of qualification topics from self-awareness in leadership, pool safe preparations and
their research overview of aquatics in New Zealand.
Celebrating ākonga would be incomplete without acknowledging those who offered guidance, support,
and opportunities along their journey. Their workplaces, mentors and assessors.
Ehara taku toa I te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
My success is not mine alone, but it is the strength of many.

• 

  Tracey Hickman

  National Learner Advisor - aquatics at Te Mahi Ako
• 

  Carmena Wong

  Auckland City Council
• 

  Jude Bell White

  Lido Aquatic Centre
• 

  Holly Ramsay

  Clutha District Council

Floating as a first response for survival is an internationally recognised and research backed competence
that has relevance across the entire water safety sector. DPA introduced Float first as an educational
campaign for World Drowning Prevention Day in 2023 and launched a Float first Advisory group in March
2024.
Float first builds on the foundation of floating being the first action in any instance. It provides a
consistent life-saving message that is relevant for everyone and for any scenario, should someone find
themselves in difficulty in the water. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that floating should be
taught first when teaching swimming and water confidence. The importance of floating is also highlighted
in the redesigned New Zealand water safety code, launched in 2024, which includes ‘Know how to float’ as
its first message. Floating is also one of the 15 water competencies for drowning prevention that
underpins DPA education.
DPA created four Float first messages as a memorable sequence (included in the DPA link below). The
development of the campaign has benefited from the research and long running campaign by the RNLI in
the UK with many lives saved as a result of their campaign, Float to Live.
Float first provides a clear message that resonates for audiences, with educational content developed for
online, pool and classroom settings. Schools, aquatic facilities, and workplaces around the country
promoted and taught Float first on World Drowning Prevention Day, with many showing their support by
going blue on the day!
This important water safety campaign will continue as we work to grow awareness and educate the nation
to Float first. The presentation will cover the Float first framework (showing campaign components)
agreed by the Float first Advisory group for Aotearoa, along with key messages and educational resources.

• 

  Tamsin O'Sullivan

  Drowning Prevention Auckland

Over the last decade the University of Otago has developed a water safety education programme for
children that is delivered in different aquatic environments (e.g., pools, lakes, beaches, rivers, etc.). This
programme aligns well with the national Water Skills for Life initiative as children are taught transferable
knowledge and skills (such as safe entry/exit, floating, and rescue techniques) and not just how to swim
certain strokes. Last Summer (Jan-March, 2024) we investigated the logistical challenges of implementing
the programme in different places (i.e., South, Central and North Otago) and with different providers. We
also wanted to find out how appealing the programme would be to families from remote locations and
also those that might be unable to afford private swimming lessons. Coordinators based at private
swimming schools in Queenstown, Oamaru, and from a Surf Life Saving Club in Kaka Point were
contracted to deliver the free programme. Across the three locations, 80 children volunteered to take part
over 4-5 days. Focus group interviews with education providers revealed they were very happy with the
logistical side of delivering the programme particularly as it was the first time that many had taught
outside of a swimming pool. However, it was acknowledged that experienced/qualified educators were
necessary to help teach the open water activities. The families were surveyed about their perspectives,
and also whether the children felt more confident to swim in different aquatic locations. Many participants
commented on how different and valuable the programmes were compared to traditional, pool-based
swimming lessons and that they felt better prepared to recreate in the different locations the programme
was taught. In this presentation we will discuss the implications of this study for children’s water safety
education across Aotearoa.

• 

  Dr Tina van Duijn

  University of Otago
• 

  Dr Chris Button

  Associate Professor at University of Otago

The aquatic environment is a difficult one to master, it requires a lot of complex systems to come together
to go right. Central to this is our people and ensuring that their approach to work carries a safety sense
throughout. Developing your safety sense introduces the concept of Chronic Unease and how it can
utilised in your operation to ensure there is a healthy approach to safety to overcome complacency in your
systems and your people.

• 

  Alex Calwell

  Thrive Spaces & Places

Plenary Room - Ground Floor

Retention within the Aquatic and Recreation industry is an international issue.
But how can we turn the tide?
Setting Lifeguards for Success and creating and establishing meaningful relationships.
There has been failure to provide Lifeguards the confidence to perform there role from the onboarding
process.
A misconception of the role and the purpose is plays.
Leaders fail to create a culture of meaning and purpose. The outcome then becomes a high turnover.
Through life experiences and a strong understanding of Emotional Intelligence this session aims to
empower change.
It will assist in the empowerment of managers, leaders and Lifeguards to create a culture of meaning and
purpose. Create an environment of success and ensure a higher retention rate and a higher attendance
rate for in-service trainings.

• 

  Christopher Rivera

  Symbiotic Consultancy

Drowning Prevention Auckland is at the forefront of drowning prevention efforts for inland waters,
complementing coastal assessments conducted by Surf Life Saving New Zealand. The primary objective
of hazard assessments is to provide councils thorough understanding of aquatic risk contained at
environments within their jurisdictions. The partnership with ActiveXchange strengthens our ability to
measure and understand risks in relation to volumes of human movement across large geographical
regions.
Assessments identify, and document hazards observed in inland aquatic environments and subsequently
make recommendations to mitigate, resolve, or minimize risks for the safety of the public who frequent
these areas.
Our approach involves conducting desk audits of the sites, cross-referencing available data with tools
such as Google Earth, ArcGIS, and ActiveXChange. Subsequently, assessors visit the site, capturing
relevant photographs of all areas, documenting signage, checking access/egress points, measuring water
temperature, recording coordinates, collecting anecdotes from members of the public/site users and
noting all observed hazards. Assessors also consider hazards during various water levels, including low
and high tides or times of flooding. A comprehensive report is then compiled and presented to the local
council, which includes recommendations to enhance safety of site-users.
Insights gained from the assessments are utilised to inform decisions, amend infrastructure, implement
appropriate and compliant signage. The outcomes of our hazard assessments have empowered councils
to take meaningful action. Councils have also embraced recommendations such as vegetation control, the
installation of public rescue equipment, the creation of new pathways and barriers to redirect popular
walking tracks away from hazards, and the integration of hazard information into the Safeswim website.
Over 50 sites have been assessed for Northland, Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Whangarei, and
Hamilton. All sites have implemented recommendations following the hazard assessments, leading to
safer recreational environments.

• 

  Josh Carmine

  Aquatic Research Educator at Drowning Prevention Auckland
• 

  Michael Clinton

  Customer Success Manager - APAC at ActiveXchange

Recreation Aotearoa

• 

  Amy Carter

  Community Pools Manager - Karori Pool at Wellington City Council
• 

  Kirsty Knowles

  CLM
• 

  Jack Milford QSM

  Managing Director of OPSEC
• 

  Tracey Prince-Puketapu

  Recreation Aotearoa
• 

  Liz Van Deventer

  Group Health & Safety Manager at Belgravia Health & Leisure Group

Devon Murphy-Davids - Inspirational Stories

• 

  Devon Murphy-Davids

  Inspiring Stories