Surf Life Saving Australia is concerned that recent fatalities suggest their standard beach safety warnings are failing to reach, or influence, the public. Since New Year’s Eve, at least five people have died in incidents on New South Wales beaches. In addition, two more people are missing after search efforts were called off.
The organisation has reassessed how it communicates beach safety messages to the public. SLSA said it aims to strengthen and expand its warnings to better reach beachgoers and reduce the risk of further deaths. By increasing the visibility and impact of its messaging, it hopes to prevent more tragedies along the New South Whales coastline.
Currently, SLSA is running both its ‘Stop. Look. Stay Alive’ and ‘Beach Passport’ campaigns. The ‘Stop. Look. Stay Alive’. campaign, developed by creative agency Banter, was designed to teach the public how to correctly identify and respond to rips. It encourages beachgoers to firstly stop and assess the conditions, look for potentially dangerous rips or currents, and make a conscious decision on their safety. The campaign is aimed at reducing drownings through promoting awareness.
The Beach Passport campaign was relaunched in November alongside Cody Simpson, a Qantas spokesperson.
The Beach Passport is a free online course, which takes under 15 minutes to complete, aimed to equip beachgoers with essential water safety information. Since its relaunch in November, it has been updated to include a rip identification tool and expanded the program into five new languages.
The inaugural Red & Yellow Day will be held on 4 March, 2026, highlighting the dedications of thousands of volunteer surf lifesavers who volunteer their time to patrol Australian beaches.
The day is designed to celebrate their efforts, as well as reinforce fundamental beach safety messaging and to reinforce the importance of swimming between the red and yellow flags to all beachgoers.
On that day, the public is encouraged to wear red and yellow, get involved in their local surf life saving clubs initiatives, fundraise and make donations where possible. The initiative aims to start a conversation around beach safety and to further educate the public in order to prevent further fatalities.
Surf Life Saving Australia wants to reinforce that the red and yellow flags will always be the safest places to swim on the beach, as it recorded zero drowning in 2025 between the flags.
Most of the 154 fatal drownings recorded in 2025 were either outside the flags or in unpatrolled locations.
Surf Life Saving advice is to visit patrolled beaches during patrolled hours and swim between the red and yellow flags.
