What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

A Hodgman Liberal Government will support our Surf Life Saving Clubs by investing $2.275 million to provide for ongoing operational support, and significant capital investment in important facilities.

What the Liberals will do:
There are currently thirteen surf life saving clubs/services providing lifesaving services on popular beaches throughout Tasmania during the summer months, with new clubs planned at places such as Bridport and Kingston Beach.

Of these, seven are located in the North-West (Boat Harbour, Somerset, Burnie, Penguin, Ulverstone, Devonport, and Port Sorell), three in the South (Clifton Beach, Carlton Park and Sea Rescue Tasmania) and two on the East Coast (Scamander and Bicheno).

Last summer Tasmanian lifesavers performed thousands of preventative actions during 21,000 hours of recorded beach patrol hours.

Since 1928 Tasmanian volunteer surf lifesavers have saved 3,545 recorded lives.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will support our surf life savers by:

1. Committing to renewing the State Government’s Service Agreement with Surf Life Saving Tasmania (SLST) for the period 2010-2015, and increase annual funding (currently $165,000) to $250,000 including annual CPI increases;
2. Establish a Capital & Development and Equipment Program of $2 million over two years for priority capital works and equipment for Tasmania's surf life saving clubs/services; and
3. Investigate adopting the successful model used in South Australia for SLST and its surf life saving clubs to be covered under the State Government insurance policy consistent with volunteer fire, ambulance, SES and hospital workers. This would significantly reduce the cost each member pays to be a volunteer surf lifesaver and money that each surf life saving club and SLST pays in insurance premiums.

Why this policy is needed
Tasmania of the tragic statistic of having the highest drowning rate per capita (per 100,000 people.

Each year, Australia’s volunteer surf lifesavers provide more than 1.4 million hours of patrol time on weekends and public holidays at 400 locations.

Their mission is to provide a safe beach and aquatic environment throughout Australia through lifesaving services and water safety, education and training, lifesaving sport and organisational and people development, including leadership and personal development.

Surf lifesaving benefits the community, through fostering a healthy lifestyle – enabling safe aquatic recreation; and developing social capital and fostering social inclusion, a sense of pride, a sense of responsibility and purpose, and positive social relationships.

The overall value surf life saving provides to the public has been estimated at more than $1.4 billion each year.

Surf Life Saving Tasmania (SLST) now has 2,997 volunteer members and 3,831 community members and 833 volunteer patrolling surf lifesavers.

In 2003-04 the value of surf lifesaving to the Tasmanian community (calculating both the direct value of volunteer surf lifesavers to beachgoers and the wider community benefits arising as a result of volunteer surf lifesaving) was assessed at $5.8 million.

SLST also delivered community training programs to over 4,000 Tasmanians through the Australian Lifesaving Academy.