Article
A Drowning Risk We Do Not Talk About Enough: Overseas-Born Australians
New analysis from Aquatots shows that overseas-born Australians are at a higher risk of drowning. With National Water Safety Day on December 1, 2025, we need to ask: Are we reaching the communities at the highest risk?
Key findings
- Over the last
20 years, people born overseas have often made up a
bigger share of drowning deaths than their share of the population. In the late 2010s, they were about
30% of the population but up to
40% of drowning deaths.
- In the five years before COVID
(2015-16 to 2019-20), overseas-born Australians drowned at a rate about
25% higher than the overall population. This occurred while the national drowning rate improved. It suggests that overseas-born communities did not benefit as much as those born in Australia.
- From
2005-06 to 2023-24, there were
1,627 drowning deaths among people born overseas - over
30% of all drowning deaths in that period.
- From 2013-14 to 2022-23, the average annual drowning rate was 1.04 deaths per 100,000 for Australian-born residents. For overseas-born residents, it was 1.30. For Nepal-born people, it was 2.48, and for China-born people, it was 1.98.
Australia loves water, but not everyone is equally safe. Our analysis of 20 years of drowning data shows a clear pattern. People born overseas are often carrying more than their share of the grief.
Chart 1
Chart 1 shows how the picture has changed over time.
In the mid-2000s, overseas-born residents were about a quarter of the population. They were also about a quarter of drowning deaths.
Over time, that changed. By the late 2010s, people born overseas made up roughly 30% of Australia’s population. But in some years, they accounted for around 40% of drowning deaths.
A five-year bracket analysis highlights this shift (2024-25 excluded, overseas-born drowning data is provisional):
- 2005-06 to 2009-10: overseas-born people were about 27% of drowning deaths.
- 2010-11 to 2014-15: overseas-born people’s share rose to about 29%.
- 2015-16 to 2019-20: it jumped to over 36%, more than one in three deaths.
- 2020-21 to 2023-24: the share sits at about 29%.
This raises an important question. Is this simply due to the growth of the overseas-born population, or are overseas-born Australians actually less safe in the water?
To answer this question, we look at deaths per 100,000 people per year, the crude annual drowning rate. For much of the last 20 years, the rate for people born overseas has sat above the rate for the population as a whole (see chart 2).
Chart 2
In the five years before COVID (2015–16 to 2019–20), the drowning rate for overseas-born Australians was about 25% higher than the national average. In some of those years, the ‘extra risk’ climbed close to 40%.
For most of the period, the risk ratio (shown by the yellow dashed line in Chart 2) is at or above 1.0. This means overseas-born Australians were as likely, and often more likely, to drown than the average Australian.
Since COVID, the two lines have moved closer together. Overall drowning has gone up, and the gap between overseas-born and Australian-born has narrowed. But the long-term story is clear; for many years, overseas-born Australians - including many culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities were more likely to die once they entered the water.
The CALD communities cover many different communities. We focused on three large migrant communities: people born in China, India, and Nepal.
In 2005, the Nepal-born population in Australia was about 3,800. By 2024, it was around 197,800, more than 50 times larger. Over the same period, the India-born population grew by more than fivefold, and the China-born population by more than threefold.
We used ten years of Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database Dashboard data (2013-14 to 2022-23) and population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We calculated average annual drowning rates per 100,000 people and compared different groups (see chart 3).
Chart 3
Two things stand out from chart 3:
- People born in Nepal and China seem to have a higher risk of drowning. This risk is greater than the average for those born overseas and for the Australian-born population.
- People born in India have a lower crude rate, but India and Nepal together still account for around seven drowning deaths a year on average.
Across this time period
(2013-14 to 2022-23), there were
933 drowning deaths
among people born overseas.
181
of these involved people born in
China, India, or Nepal, almost one in five overseas-born drowning deaths.
What this means for a drowning-free Australia
This study doesn’t explain all the reasons for the numbers. But it clearly shows that if Australia aims to reduce drowning deaths by half, CALD communities need to be included.
We know that overseas-born Australians face a higher drowning risk, it's time for specific action:
- Make swimming lessons more affordable and culturally safe.
- Offer water safety information in multiple languages.
- Listen to CALD communities about the barriers they face and the support they need.
Recognizing these patterns and admitting the gaps is the first step to real progress. It’s key to a drowning-free nation where no family is left behind.
Methodology & Data Notes
Data Sources
- NATIONAL DROWNING REPORT, Royal Life Saving Australia, several years
- Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database Dashboard
- 34090DO001_2024 Australia's population by country of birth 2024, Estimated resident population by country of birth - as at 30 June, 1996 to 2024, Released at 11:30 am (Canberra time) 30 April 2025, Australian Bureau of Statistics
- A 10 YEAR NATIONAL STUDY OF OVERSEAS BORN DROWNING DEATHS, 2005/06 to 2014/15, Royal Life Saving Australia
- Drowning Among Multicultural Communities in Australia, AN UPDATE: 2013/14 TO 2022/23, Royal Life Saving Australia
Formula
- Crude drowning rate
(raw death count in the year/population of the year) * 100,000
- Risk Ratio
Overseas-born drowning rate/Australian-born drowning rate
A value above 1 means overseas-born Australians face higher drowning risk.
Note
- 'Overseas-born' is not the same as 'CALD', our analysis focuses on country of birth
- We used the Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database Dashboard to analyse the annual total drowning death counts. The dashboard reports 316 deaths for the 2023-24 period. National Drowning Report 2024, Royal Life Saving Australia shows 323. The difference does not affect any trend or conclusion in the analysis.
Using our work
Aquatots Research & Data Team's work is meant to be shared and used widely. You do not need to seek our permission to reuse our article, charts, data, you just need to provide credit - http://www.aquatots.com.au/a-drowning-risk-we-do-not-talk-about-enough:-overseas-born-australians
About Aquatots
One of the more common questions we come across is do you provide private classes These days there is a misconception around the belief that children will learn to swim faster in a one on one environment. Whichever way you do decide to go with your child's learn to swim it is important that you seek a qualified instructor and an environment that you and your child feel comfortable in. This article we hope will provide a bit of insight into private and group classes for learn to swim.
Private classes are great if your child has special needs and requires a different type of learning journey to other children or is unable to join a group for safety reasons. The private class in this case keeps the child, other children and the instructor safe for the duration of the class and allows the instructor to change the learning path and speed for the child when needed.
On the other side private class structure for nervous or a child who is an introvert can sometimes exacerbate feelings of nervousness or being uncomfortable as complete focus is on them all of the time. They are also unable to see others try so the journey to becoming comfortable in the water can take a little longer.
Children in private classes do not need to learn to wait their turn. Learning to wait around an aquatic environment is an important safety skill as this teaches children to know when it is ok to jump in or start swimming.
The waiting period for your child in a small group class should not be long but does give your child a chance to regroup and rest before they are expected to give it another go. Continuation of skills and muscle use over and over again in short periods can lead to muscle and mental fatigue given less than productive results.
Depending on the instructor for your child's private class self-directed learning can sometimes come into play. If there are no peers to keep up with then sometimes the child is not pushed to gain skills a fast as they could.
When placing your child in a group class you should consider
- How many children in the class? Small groups are best
- Is the class age and swim ability appropriate for your child?
- Is the class moving for the duration of lesson time? Group classes should flow with minimal rest time for the children within the allotted time to ensure maximum swimming
- Do the instructors correct technique and give feedback to swimmers all of the time? Children should be corrected and given feedback each time they have a turn
Small group classes are great because children are very visual learners and this allows them to see other attempt what is required of them. For some children this will become important as seeing other children give it a go can give them the courage to try. It is really hard for a child to comprehend its ok when a grown up is telling them that it is, it is a much quicker learning path if they see other children attempt the given task. Also a visual from other students attempting the drill or doing the drill correctly can help their peers get it right.
In a group situation children are allowed to make friends and celebrate their achievements together. Receiving praise is always great but getting it in front of your peers or in a group situation is the best feeling in the world, the confidence boost that children gain from this is amazing.
They learn to share and converse with others and how to work as a team and in a group. Most of the time the children are in the class with the same children for months at a time so they get to make new friends and parents also have the chance to bond with other parents with children around the same age. I have seen many swim friend relationships blossom over the years.
Children in small group classes also learn to wait their turn. This is an important part of water safety, waiting and knowing when it is safe to swim. Children in small group classes are taught when to jump in or start swimming on cue.
To gain a fast progression for your child's learn to swim it does not matter if your child learns in a small group or a private situation the secret to a quick progression is MORE water time. 30 minutes a week is great, but the more you allow your child to practice the quicker this progression will be. To speed up a child's swim progression add more water time or extra lessons to their week!
Private or group classes either way if your child is learning to swim you are on a parenting win.
