New Swim Instructor Course For Griffith

You could learn to be a swim instructor free of charge with the new government-funded courses delivered by the Royal Life Saving Society NSW.

Special Projects Coordinator, Renee Amidy said that they’re trying to get more instructors back in the pools.

“We started providing the courses in February last year,” Ms Amidy said. “We are nationally recognised.

“If you’re licensed with us you have access to 11,000 learning opportunities for free.”

Swim schools licensed with the Royal Life Saving Society NSW can also use those free learning opportunities for staff training.

Independent NSW State MP for Murray, Helen Dalton welcomed the announcement of new courses in Griffith, Deniliquin and Wagga.

“Rural NSW has a chronic shortage of swim instructors,” Mrs Dalton said. “This makes it really hard for our children to access swim lessons.

“That’s why I reached out to the Royal Life Saving Society NSW to see how we could address this issue.

“I conducted an online survey which showed the cost and location of swim instructor courses was a huge barrier.

“So I’m delighted to see courses have been announced in Deniliquin on 3 April, Wagga on 30 April and Griffith on 25 June.

“We also need courses in Far West NSW, so I’ll continue to lobby for them to be introduced in Wentworth and Balranald.”

Mrs Dalton said she provided a letter of support to Royal Life Saving Society NSW on March 11 requesting they be provided with funding to offer the courses.

“If you’re unemployed or at risk of becoming unemployed, the courses are free (fully funded) and you don’t have to pay,” Mrs Dalton said. “People can go to drowningprevention.org.au online or call my office if they want more info.

“We really need to improve access to swim safety courses in the Murray region.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but drownings this summer have actually been more common in inland areas than they have been on the Coast.

“According to Royal Life Saving Australia statistics, there were 112 fatal drownings in Australia this past summer, and a majority of them (51 per cent) occurred in inland locations.”

If you wish to do the course and are not eligible to receive the tuition-free, it costs $300. The infants and toddlers course costs $150. Royal Life Saving Society, in conjunction with Rainbow Institutes, will also launch the All Abilities Course on March 29.

• Topics:

• Swimming
• Grants / Funding