The fact almost half of parents are unaware they should be within arm's reach of a child in the water comes as no surprise to Jimmy Neyland, manager of the Cobar Memorial Swimming Pool. 

"We see it all the time," he said. "Parents really need to be aware of what their children are doing at every moment." 

According to the latest Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Poll, Water safety warning: Australian kids at risk, many parents have gaps in water safety knowledge, with misconceptions around drowning risks and supervision requirements.  

The poll surveyed 2,036 parents in September 2022, finding many misbeliefs around water safety including almost half the adults surveyed not aware that drowning is often silent.  

The COVID pandemic has thrown swimming lessons off track with almost half (47 per cent) of children missing out on swimming lessons and opportunities to develop water safety skills over the last few years. 

"We really believe swimming lessons should be available for kids all year around," Mr Neyland said. 

The latest poll also found that four in five pre-schoolers have "no swimming skills at all" or only "beginner skills" and one in six Australian children have never had a swimming lesson. The survey also found parents from culturally diverse backgrounds have lower levels of knowledge about water safety.  

The Cobar Memorial Pool has several swimming and water safety courses, suitable to all ages. 

"At Cobar, we are only open seasonally and we still struggle to get enough teachers. It's important that little kids learn the skills to get their head out of the water and get to the edge if they fall in a pool," Mr Neyland said. 

Dr Anthea Rhodes, paediatrician and Poll Director, said the findings show there is a critical need to improve water safety knowledge among Australian parents.  

“With drowning the leading cause of death in children aged less than 15 years in Australia, water safety and swimming skills are critically important," Dr Rhodes said. "Our report found that while most Australian parents believe that children are never too young to start learning about water safety, there were some concerning gaps in parents’ knowledge about drowning risks." 

Mr Neyland thinks the Government could have a bigger input into improving water safety.

"It would be great if schoolteachers could be put through 'Learn to Swim' courses and then be reimbursed by the government in some way. We really struggle to employ enough lifeguards as well." 

Finding enough qualified lifeguards is proving a challenge for many western council-run pools.

Mr Neyland said the Water Safety survey results were very accurate in his experience and nothing replaces a parent on patrol. 

"Parents really need to be hyper-vigilant if their kids are swimming and make sure they have lessons from a young age. Learning to swim should be as much a part of growing up as learning to ride a bike," he said.