New beach safety day launched to curb migrant drownings on Australia's beaches

After a series of tragic drownings, a new initiative has been launched in Sydney on Thursday, aimed at keeping migrants safe on Australian shores.

Sydney's eastern beaches are some of the country's most popular attractions for tourists and locals alike but can also be extremely dangerous with one of the highest rates of drowning in the state.

With migrants significantly overrepresented in a recent spate of drownings, calls for more targeted water safety programs have been growing from all sections of the public.

So Surf Lifesaving and community groups in eastern Sydney's iconic Tamarama Beach invited new migrants from China, Russia, Iraq, India, Vietnam and more, to learn about beach safety.

The event saw migrants put into groups with lifesavers and rock fishing experts to help them stay safe while making the most of Australia's famous beach culture.

George Mannah, community relations manager for the New South Wales Government Department of Primary Industries, told Xinhua that people need to be vigilant of all activities when they're near water, even if they aren't swimming.

"The number of drownings is just too high," Mannah said, "We see that migrants from the Asian community in particular love rock fishing and most of the deaths are from people of that background."

"Education is the solution to preventing drowning, the message is that safety is key and also, don't go where you don't have any experience."

Rock fishing is considered to be one of Australia's most dangerous sports, with the majority of deaths happening in the state of New South Wales (NSW).

The potentially deadly recreational activity even sparked its own coronial inquiry, after it became the leading cause of coastal drownings, claiming almost 70 lives in just 5 years.

After the inquiry, new regulations were introduced, slapping rock fishers who don't wear life jackets with fines.

"You can't ban rock fishing, we just have to share the knowledge about being vigilant and knowing the proper procedures," Malcolm Poole, safety officer for Recreational Fishing NSW, explained.

"It's important that new migrants understand all the basics of living in Australia, including all the things required for daily life, if they want to participate in beach culture, they need to know the proper safety procedures too."

"It's a bit of a learning curve because maybe people don't know all the safety rules, whether it's at the beach or on a rock platform, so we hope that today's activity will have a flow on effect. People here will tell their friends, who will also tell their friends."

Jing Zhou, who arrived in Sydney from China in 2013, was one of the participants who hopes to pass on the message about safety to her friends and colleagues.

"I like to go to the beach occasionally and it's very clear that safety is so important and we can't ignore it," she insisted.

"All my friends really do try to obey the rules, so it's just important that we understand them and are told them clearly."

The lifesavers from Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club are committed to getting to message out and overcoming any language barriers, so that everyone can enjoy Australia's beaches safely.

Safety signs and education programs are available in a variety of languages, such as Chinese, Arabic and Indonesian.

Adriana Gervais is a lifesaver for Surf Life Saving New South Wales and has seen firsthand the tragic impact a lack of understanding about safety rules can have.

"People need to be aware of the dangers, so the focus is on getting the message out, in any language and making sure that safety is always the number one focus," Gervais said. Endit