New research indicates that almost half of year 6 students in Australia are not meeting the country’s swimming and water safety benchmarks for their age group, and their skills do not improve in high school. According to the national guidelines, by the age of 12, all Australians should be able to float or tread water for two minutes and swim continuously for 50 meters. However, Royal Life Saving Australia found that teachers estimate 48% of students cannot perform these skills and 39% of students still cannot do so by year 10. By age 17, the benchmark recommends that 50% of students should be able to float or tread water for five minutes and swim continuously for 400 meters. The report warned that teachers generally observe little improvement in swimming skills after year 7.

According to Dr. Justin Scarr, the CEO of Royal Life Saving Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the country at risk of creating a generation with extremely poor swimming skills. Several factors have contributed to the decline in swimming skills, including that many parents enroll their children in swimming lessons at a young age and at significant cost, resulting in them finishing way too early to develop an advanced swimming and water safety skill set. Scarr also pointed out that the financial cost of lessons excludes many people, particularly those living in outer metropolitan areas and regional towns. Additionally, many assume schools provide a safety net in the form of swimming lessons, but the report noted that school-based programs vary greatly in objectives, mode of delivery, reach, funding, and success.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/17/nearly-half-of-australias-year-6-students-cant-swim-50-metres-or-tread-water-for-two-minutes