Coastal Safety Lifesaving Services Lifesavers & Lifeguards

Lifesavers & Lifeguards

Between our iconic red and yellow flags on beaches up and down our vast WA coastline, you can find our surf lifesavers and lifeguards. Between those flags, we draw a line in the sand: everyone who crosses it should enter and leave the water safely.

Two surf lifesavers walking the beach beside the patrol flag

KNOW THE FLAGS

THE SAFEST PLACE TO SWIM

Look along a patrolled WA beach and you will see two groups on the sand. Volunteer surf lifesavers wear red and yellow with SURF RESCUE across the front and back, giving up their weekends and public holidays right through the season. Professional lifeguards wear black, red and yellow with LIFEGUARD on the shirt, and are employed to patrol beaches under contract to local and state government.

Different uniforms, different rosters, same job: making sure everyone who goes in the water comes back out safely. Both are trained in rescue, first aid and reading the conditions, and both would rather stop an incident before it starts than pull someone out of a rip. Knowing who is on the beach, and where they are watching, is the easiest safety decision you will make all summer.

Safety tips

BETWEEN THE FLAGS

Lifesavers

Today, in WA, we have 31 surf life saving clubs (opens in a new tab) with more than 6,500 trained volunteer surf lifesavers who commit their weekends and public holidays over the summer season (October to April), to patrol our coastline and keep beachgoers safe. This accounts for more than 100,000 hours a year!

Lifesavers wear easily identified red and yellow uniforms with SURF RESCUE clearly written on the front and back of the shirt. Our lifesavers are there to watch over you, and to provide advice to help keep you safe when at the beach. Next time you are at the beach, find the red and yellow flags and always swim between them. Remember, if our lifesavers can’t see you, they can’t save you.

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2025/26 SEASON

Volunteer beach patrols

In the 2025/26 season (1 May 2025 - 30 April 2026), more than 5,880 patrolling WA surf lifesavers performed:

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Rescues

A rescue is the number of times our surf lifesavers retrieved a person in distress, delivering them to a place of safety, and where necessary, the application of first aid and basic life support may be administered.

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first aids

The number of occasions on which our surf lifesavers administered first aid to beach goers.

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patrol hours

The number of hours our volunteer surf lifesavers spent patrolling West Australian beaches.

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preventative actions

A preventative action is any direct measure taken by lifesavers or lifeguards to reduce risk and stop an incident, injury, or rescue from happening.

Lifesaving Services

Lifeguards

Surf Life Saving in Australia is one of the largest providers of paid lifeguards in the world, employing over 700 lifeguards at more than 250 locations across Australia.

In WA, SLSWA is the largest provider of paid lifeguard services, managed under contract for local or state government agencies, patrolling more than 20 West Australian beaches.

Our Lifeguards wear black, red and yellow uniforms with LIFEGUARD written clearly on the back and front of the shirt.

In Australia, many local councils also run their own professional ocean lifeguard service. These lifeguards wear a range of different coloured uniforms, including variations of blue, white, red and yellow.

PROFESSIONAL BEACH SERVICES

Lifeguard services

In the 2025/26 season (1 May 2025 - 30 April 2026), across more than 20 beach locations, our professional lifeguard services performed

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rescues