A total of 281 people drowned in Australia between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, according to the Royal Life Saving Society’s National Drowning Report.
While there has been 16 drowning deaths among children under the age of four years old throughout the past year, it is a decline of 33 per cent compared to 10 years ago.
There has also been a decline of 35 per cent in drownings among those aged between five and 14 years old with seven deaths in in that period.
The only other age group to see a decline is those aged between 15 and 24, representing 30 deaths and a seven per cent drop.
Those aged between 25 and 64 represented the highest number of drowning deaths in the 2022-2023 period with 153 deaths at a one per cent increase.
Meanwhile those ages 65 and over saw a 19 per cent increase on the 10 year average with 19 deaths.
33 per cent of drownings have been attributed to swimming and recreation while falls account for 15 per cent of deaths.
New South Wales had the highest number of drownings with 107 deaths while the Queensland and Victoria recorded 61 and 59 respectively.
(IMAGE: Flickr/Farbs01)
