Old4New lifejacket awareness campaign hits a milestone

The Old4New life jacket program in NSW had exchanged more than 20,000 old-style lifejackets for new mainly inflatable ones, spreading the ‘wear a lifejacket’ message and getting more people to don the essential safety items.

The Old4New van has travelled to more than 500 towns, covering 100,000 kilometres throughout NSW to offer upgraded lifejackets at a discounted price and educate the community about modern, comfortable lifejackets.

Minister for Roads Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey said wearing a lifejacket is the most effective way to prevent drowning and people all across NSW have really embraced this program.

"The 20,000 lifejackets that have been provided is not just a number. Each lifejacket supplied represents a friend or family member who is now more likely to wear a lifejacket while boating and come home safe."

The Old4New lifejacket exchange program has delivered strong results, with lifejacket wear rates up more than 400 per cent compared with 10 years ago.

That said, 8 out of 10 people who drown in NSW while boating are not wearing a lifejacket, highlighting the importance of safety for all water enthusiasts regardless of age and experience.

With the exchange of the old-style block-foam lifejackets for new inflatable yoke-type models, a new issue has arisen — servicing! Inflatable lifejackets require annual servicing which, going on feedback at servicing centres, isn't always happening.

Andrew Ettingshausen has helped launch Transport for NSW's latest water-safety campaign featuring a life-sized yellowfin bream called Finn that aims to raise awareness of your lifejacket(s) care and servicing requirements.

Read more about the new lifejacket servicing campaign.

Servicing lifejackets is something you can do yourself, too. Read our DIY lifejacket servicing article.