Submission on the Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill

Recreation Aotearoa is the leading professional body supporting New Zealand’s recreation sector, advocating for quality experiences that keep people active, healthy, and connected. Its members include those who plan, deliver, and manage community sport, recreation, and outdoor programmes across the country.

Overview of general comments

Recreation Aotearoa welcomes the intent of the Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill and supports efforts to reduce New Zealand’s high rate of fatal drownings. We view the Bill as a positive step toward changing behaviour and improving water safety outcomes.

However, we believe the Bill does not go far enough. This legislation presents a significant opportunity to prevent drowning and must be strengthened to maximise its life-saving impact.

While the Bill focuses on children under 15 on recreational craft six metres or less, evidence shows that adults, particularly men over 40, account for most watercraft fatalities. Drowning incidents often occur suddenly, leaving little or no time to put on a lifejacket that is only carried on board.

Recreation Aotearoa supports the views of Water Safety New Zealand and Coastguard NZ. Their analysis indicates that an average of 12 lives could be saved each year if lifejacket wearing was mandatory for all people on all recreational craft.

We are also concerned about the current patchwork of national rules and regional bylaws, which creates confusion for users. New Zealand needs one clear, consistent national rule that normalises lifejacket wearing, in the same way seatbelt and helmet laws have changed behaviour and saved lives.

Read our submission

For more detail, please read:

Submission on the Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill

Questions or feedback

If you have any questions, or want to share your views, contact our Advocacy Manager, Sam Newton by email: sam@nzrecreation.org.nz