Queenslanders asked for feedback on life jacket, kill switch law changes
Changes are coming for Queensland's life jacket laws, with compulsory kill switch use also on the tableThe Queensland Government has reached out to boaters to help it shape proposed new laws that will change when and where they wear life jackets and use engine cut-off lanyards.
Maritime Safety Queensland has asked the state’s boaters to give it feedback on how severe the changes to the laws will be, issuing a survey that asks them how life jackets and kill switch lanyards should be used.
“A life jacket is a vital piece of safety equipment that can save lives – think of it as the seatbelt of the sea,” Maritime Safety Queensland said in a statement.
“For boating safety, it is essential that everyone on board has a life jacket and wears it.
“A kill switch safety lanyard is also an important piece of safety equipment that helps to reduce injuries and loss of life at sea. It is designed to connect a person to the engine of a boat or personal watercraft and stop the engine if the person wearing it falls overboard.
“The popularity of recreational boating and personal watercraft (commonly called a jet ski) continues to grow in Queensland. The rise in boating numbers has coincided with a rise in the number of reported marine incidents and collisions between ships.
Maritime Safety Queensland said it was proposing changes to minimise the number of “high-risk situations” that the state’s boaters and jet ski riders were encountering.
“We think these changes will help improve safety on Queensland waters. Enhancing the rules for wearing life jackets and kill switch safety lanyards may save more lives and reduce trauma for people using our waterways.”
Under Queensland’s current marine safety legislation, boaters are only obliged to wear a life jacket if they are in a boat that measures less than 4.8 metres and are crossing a bar, or anyone aged 12 or less in a boat measuring less than 4.8 metres while it is moving.
Meanwhile, there is no specific law in the state compelling boaters – and jet ski riders – to make use of cut-off lanyards that will automatically stall an engine if the skipper falls overboard or away from the helm.
Boat owners are also obliged to let everyone onboard a boat know the location of life jackets, and mark where they are with a white-on-red or red-on-white sign.
The changes proposed to life jacket use include:
- Compulsory wearing of lifejackets at all times when people boat alone on open boats or on deck on cabin boats (up to 4.8m in length).
- Compulsory wearing of lifejackets at all times when people boat alone on open boats or on deck on cabin boats (up to 4.8m in length) while underway. Underway is defined as when the boat is not at anchor, moored, made fast to shore or aground.
- Compulsory wearing of lifejackets by all persons (1 year or more) when boating at night on open boats (up to 4.8m in length).
- Compulsory wearing of lifejackets by all persons (1 year or more) when boating at night on open boats (up to 4.8m in length), while underway. Underway is when the boat is not at anchor, moored, made fast to shore or aground.
However, big changes are also planned for children onboard boats:
- Compulsory wearing of life jackets at all times by children (1 year or more, but less than 12) on all open boats or on deck on cabin boats.
- Compulsory wearing of life jackets at all times by children (1 year or more, but less than 12) on all open boats or on deck on cabin boats, while underway. Underway is when the boat is not at anchor, moored, made fast to shore or aground.
- Compulsory wearing of life jackets at all times by children (1 year or more, but less than 12) on all open craft, including personal watercraft (commonly called a jet ski), kayaks, surf skis and other watercraft.
The state also wants to beef up its life jacket requirements for crossing coastal bars, but is seeking community feedback if this should be restricted to just people on open boats, or become a more broad-reaching requirement that includes all open vessels including kayaks and surf skis.
If your boat measures less than 4.8 metres and is fitted with a safety lanyard, Maritime Safety Queensland will want you to wear the lanyard at all times while underway.
The same goes for anyone riding a jet ski, with the state looking at beefing up the rules around lanyard use so that jet ski riders will get in trouble if they try and bypass the cut-off system or attach the lanyard to anyone but the master of the jet ski.
Queenslanders can have their say about the proposed changes, with public feedback open until Friday, December 23.
Data from the 2022 Royal Life Saving Australia national survey showed 339 people drowned in waterways for the calendar year to the end of June this year.
Queensland recorded 86 drownings over the survey period, an almost 30 per cent increase over the state's 10-year average and largely due to a spike in flood-related incidents. Only 12 of those deaths were related to boating.
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