Lifeguard Bruce Hopkins says the spate of drownings which occurred over the summer were due to insufficient education over dangerous waters.
“It should be legislated where it’s in the schools and our campaign now is float to survive and if you float in any waterway you will survive, even the ocean,” he told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
Mr Hopkins said educators “need to go back to the drawing board” in terms of how they teach children water survival techniques but the out of school swimming programs like Nippers have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
“Nippers have had to reduce the amount of people they can have down at the beach so it has had a big impact of water safety.”