Queensland jet skiers under year-long safety spotlight

The number of people in south-east Queensland holding a PWC licence has jumped to almost 168,000, outnumbering the 24,000 registered jet skis in the area seven times over.

Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the increasing popularity of personal watercraft brought a greater need for them to be operated responsibly.

"Most PWC riders comply with the regulations but maritime compliance officers continue to see too many instances where they don't," Bailey said.

"In the five years to June 2020, growth in PWC registrations in south-east Queensland was a staggering 40 percent," he said.

"Across Queensland the increase was more than six percent compared to less than one percent for other vessels.”

Bailey said while it was great to see more Queenslanders getting out on the state’s waterways, “all too often” jet ski riders were flouting regulations, and getting hurt.

"On the Gold Coast, PWC are especially popular, but between January 2017 and July 2020 the number of collisions between PWC doubled, which was more than the rest of the state combined,” he said.

"We also know speed and wake, or wave jumping were the two most significant causes of PWC incidents."

Bailey said Maritime Safety Queensland had analysed statistics and developed a compliance and education campaign that would focus on south-east Queensland this year.

"Enforcement will be an important part of this campaign, with MSQ's maritime enforcement team and compliance agency partners out in force on the water,” he said.

"There will also be a concerted effort on communicating with and educating PWC riders and others in the boating community about their safety obligations.

"They can be sure they will be hearing from MSQ about PWC safety this year – on the water, at the boat ramp and through stakeholders and social media."