Key points
- Victoria needs 300 pool staff to fill a workforce shortage across the state.
- Waitlists for swimming lessons at some community pools are more than 300 students long.
- A state government program is offering all paid training for staff with no experience.
- The rate of drownings in Victoria is up since the pandemic began, and there are concerns people lost their water safety skills during lockdowns.
A major recruitment drive is underway to fill a shortage of swim teachers and lifeguards that has left Victorian pools critically understaffed entering the summer holiday period.
Community pools are aiming to hire 150 swim teachers and lifeguards by the end of January and 150 more pool staff by June. Paid training will be offered on the job and no experience is required.
Alijan Ruiz teaches children to swim at Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre.Credit:Simon Schluter
Drownings in Victoria increased after the pandemic began and strict lockdowns disrupted swimming lessons.
Kathy Parton, chief executive of Aquatics and Recreation Victoria, the peak body for community pools, said thousands of children were still waiting to begin swimming lessons.
“Waiting lists are a common story across the state, especially in regional Victoria. In Wonthaggi, for example, their waitlist is over 300 kids long,” she said.
City facilities are also stretched. In Melbourne’s inner north, Brunswick Baths and Coburg Leisure Centre have closed books to any new students due to the shortage of swim teachers.
In Keilor Downs, in the city’s north-west, the new Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre needed an extra 25 swim teachers to meet the growing demand of 3000 students.
Facility manager Drew Hildebrandt said the hunt for qualified staff had been tough, and he had only filled the roles by offering paid training to people with no qualifications, similar to the state government’s recruitment drive.
“The message was, ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re not qualified – we’ll get you trained up, fully qualified and in the water’,” Hildebrandt said.
A swimming class at Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre.Credit:Simon Schluter
“I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years and it’s probably not [previously] been as [difficult to get staff] as it has been since lockdowns.”
A record number of 63 people drowned in Victorian waters in the 2020-21 financial year, followed by 53 in 2021-22, which was still 10 more than the average annual number of drownings over the past decade.
The swim industry attributes a portion of this increase to missed swimming lessons and the decline of water skills during lockdowns.
“It does worry me if there are a whole lot of children and adults who still don’t have the competency to swim who choose, over summer, to swim in the water,” Parton said.
“People going into areas that aren’t necessarily patrolled without that skill – it’s a real concern.”
The national aquatic workforce is overwhelmingly female (73 per cent) and just under half of workers (47 per cent) are casually employed, according to the Royal Life Saving Society. More than half the workforce earns less than $30,000 a year and about one in two are studying or have a second job.
Like many other casualised industries, the Victorian aquatic industry lost many workers during the pandemic when pools were shut down and staff sought other employment. In September 2021, there were 3869 aquatic workers compared with 5065 in January 2020, according to the 2022 State of The Sector Report by Life Saving Victoria.
In its new recruitment drive, called Next Wave, the state government is funding 12-month entry-level positions that include training, equipment, CPR, police checks and uniforms, with the expectation that facilities retain staff after 12 months.
Available part-time and full-time roles include swim teachers, with an average hourly rate of $21-$36; lifeguards, who also earn between $21-$36; duty managers, who earn between $24-$42; and customer service staff, who earn between $17-$35.
Since the drive launched in October, only 21 of the 300 positions have been filled, including by people with no experience in the industry.
Hildebrandt said it took about one month to be trained to teach swimming classes, and the work was rewarding.
“I think there’s something inherently great about educating young people,” he said. “Being able to see the rewards that come from investing time in children and acquiring those skills that you know may save their life.”
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