NSW seeks feedback on tough new lifejacket reforms
Lifejacket use for vessels less than 6.0 metres in length, children, set to change dramatically in NSWNSW’s water safety watchdog has asked the state’s boaters for feedback on proposed reforms to lifejacket use that will result in more of them wearing the devices more often.
The draft Maritime Safety Plan 2026 has proposed two possible reforms:
- Mandatory wearing of lifejackets by adults on vessels less than six metres when underway, and at all times for vessels less than six metres when boating alone, on alpine waters or between sunset and sunrise.
- Mandatory wearing of lifejackets by adults on vessels less than six metres in enclosed waters when underway, on all vessels in open waters in the open area of the vessel when underway, and at all times when boating alone, on alpine waters or between sunset and sunrise.
Both proposals will also make it mandatory for children under the age of 12 to wear a lifejacket at all times on a vessel less than six metres in enclosed or open waters, and in the open area of a vessel greater than six metres in length that is underway in enclosed or open waters.
In other states where children must already wear lifejackets at all times in open sections of a boat, a cuddy or half-cab’s interior is considered an open part of the boat if it does not have a door.
According to NSW data, seven out of every 10 people who drowned in relation to boating incidents over the last decade were not wearing lifejackets.
“Lifejackets are without a doubt the most important piece of safety equipment for survival in boating incidents where people are forced into the water,” NSW Transport and Roads Minister Andrew Constance said.
“We want to hear from NSW boaters on the two new lifejacket options that have been developed because we need to make the law easier for people to understand and save more lives on our waterways.
“The draft Maritime Safety Plan 2026 will outline the NSW Government’s plans for maritime safety over the next five years, and support our goal of zero boating fatalities and serious injuries by 2056.”
New plan
The new safety plan will replace the Maritime Safety Plan 2017–2021, which aimed to reduce the number of boating deaths in the state by 30 per cent compared with 2014’s numbers – the equivalent of saving four lives and 16 serious injuries.
However, last year the state posted an almost 90 per cent jump in the number of boat and jet ski-related downings to the highest numbers since records were kept as Australians, locked out of travel options due to the COVID-19 pandemic, took to the water in record numbers.
The joint authors of the study, the Surf Life Saving Australia and the University of NSW, suggested that a sharp rise in the number of inexperienced boaters taking to the water was behind the spike.
The state’s longer-term goal is no deaths or injuries by 2056.
Need for compliance
NSW Centre for Maritime Safety executive director Bernard Carlon said the proposed changes to lifejacket use incorporated the Safe System Approach, which highlighted a need for “compliance and enforcement of lifejacket wear”.
“Each year, more than two million people explore our beautiful NSW waterways by boat and other watercraft, and we want to ensure they can continue to enjoy this popular activity in the safest possible way,” Carlon said.
“The proposed changes to lifejacket rules are designed to be simpler and easier to understand for NSW boaters, with the goal of driving increased wearing of lifejackets to save lives.
“Both options being proposed will save lives on NSW waterways and support our ultimate goal – to get to zero fatalities on NSW waterways by 2056.”
To have your say on the draft Maritime Safety Plan 2026 and the proposed lifejacket reform options, visit haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/maritime-safety by September 24.
Boatsales.com.au is an advocate of lifejacket use at all times while out on the water.
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