River Safety

Rivers are a living feature of this land we live in and having a healthy respect for them provides a broader understanding of the environment and perhaps gives one pause to stop and think before taking risks.

More people drown in rivers than in any other New Zealand water environment. Rivers present a completely different range of potential dangers compared to the ocean and swimming pools. When you combine this with the fact that unlike surf beaches and off-shore waters there are no agencies responsible for rescues in rivers you can easily understand why the need for river safety education is vital.

Water Safety New Zealand and our partners ACC have developed a range of RiverSafe initiatives to provide education, training and development and to actively promote water safety awareness in and around our rivers. Our initiatives include national public awareness campaigns, a range of educational material and this dedicated website.

A key component of the initiatives is the ACC RiverSafe programme which is a classroom, pool and river based learning programme about enjoying rivers safely. The programme primarily targets school aged children and has been specifically developed for use with levels of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum. This is a free resource downloadable in PDF format by visiting the programme section of this site.

ACC RiverSafe Programmes

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