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For many three to six-year-olds across New South Wales, the dream of summers spent safely enjoying Australia's pools, rivers and beaches could soon come true.
Royal Life Saving New South Wales, along with state and local governments and multicultural community leaders, has announced a $100,000 initiative to give 1,000 children free swimming lessons.
Pacifique Ndayisaba, Community Engagement Officer with Odyssey House New South Wales, is an active member of Sydney's African community.
He says for migrant communities from landlocked countries or where recreational swimming is less common, learning to swim can be life-changing.
"Africa's a massive continent, and the majority of people who come here to Australia experience water as ocean, as beach, sometimes for the first time. It's a good moment, it's fun to be in the water, or in the pool or on the beach, but also it comes with dangers."
Mr Ndayisaba, whose extended family lost a child to drowning a few years ago, knows firsthand the risks for multicultural communities, which continue to be over-represented in drowning statistics.
Western Sydney, where the initiative has been chosen to launch, had the highest rate of drowning nationwide between 2011 and 2021, with more than half of the nearly 200 deaths (198) among people from migrant backgrounds.
The new program, Project Harmony, also follows a tragic summer, which saw 54 people drown across Australia.
In March alone, there were 36 deaths around the country, up 44 per cent from the same month last year.
Royal Life Saving New South Wales CEO Michael Ilinsky says the pandemic has been "terrible" for water safety.
"Three million lessons alone were lost in New South Wales, more than seven million across Australia, so when you think about those lost lessons, we have a generation of young children who have missed out on that continuation of water safety and learning. That's why it's vital that we get them re-engaging with the water now. We don't want a generation of children across Australia being left in a position of risk as they grow older."
The program is in addition to the state government's First Lap voucher program, which provided $50 per child towards the cost of swimming lessons, but had lower uptake in areas with the highest drowning risk.
Children from families who have not used their First Lap vouchers will be offered ten free swimming lessons.
Multicultural New South Wales CEO Joseph La Posta says the new project more directly addresses childcare, transport, translation and other cultural barriers.
"We know that it's challenging for families at the moment, lots of competing demands on the household budget. And so what the local councils in partnership with Royal Life Saving and also the NSW government are trying to do, is to really lower any financial burden, and to encourage as many families to get into swimming as possible."
Project Harmony has been launched in Liverpool, in Sydney's southwest, and will be trialled in 14 pools in seven local government areas across wider Western Sydney, with the potential for more to be added.
Charishma Kaliyanda, the state member for Liverpool, says she would like to see the initiative rolled out across the rest of the country.
"Across Australia we have communities who think of Australia as synonymous with beaches and waterways and sunshine. And so that's part of the dream for many people across our country to access these things. But we obviously want to make sure that some of the dangers associated with those are minimised, and people have the skills and the tools to keep themselves and their family members safe."
Mr Ndayisaba says he would like to see more support for older people from multicultural communities as well.
"Myself, I know people my age from African communities who don't know how to swim. When their young people, their children, are drowning, they can't even have the support of their loved ones. Or if there is an attempt (to rescue them), we can lose both, or one of them."
Mr Ilinsky says Project Harmony is just one part of the effort to make sure everyone can enjoy Australia's waterways safely.
"I think that this is just a small piece of a very big puzzle when it comes to engaging with our diverse communities. Water is such a fun place to be around and if we can do that safely, if we can respect the water, there's so much fun that we're all going to have into the future."
