Lifesavers in Queensland are set to trial a world-first initiative to encourage beachgoers to swim between the flags by pushing surf safety alerts to their smartphones.
Using unlimited free WiFi and only accessible between the flags, beachgoers will immediately be notified about beach conditions and safe swimming tips via a live feed.
The text-only technology, dubbed Life-Fi, is set to be rolled out for users in seven languages; including English, traditional and simplified Chinese, Hindi, Thai, Japanese and Arabic.
A screen of what the alert looks like in English Source: Surf Life Saving Queensland
There have been 75 drownings over the past 10 years on Queensland beaches - 31 of them tourists or recently arrived migrants.
Surf Life Saving Queensland CEO John Brennan tells SBS Cantonese that the trial is set to be rolled at certain beaches, including ones along the Gold Coast in December.
"As soon as people walk into the area, the system will pick up the settings on their phone, and that will start translating that information straight away," he said.
"One of the issues we do have is the language barriers between lifesavers and the beachgoer, so even before they get into the water we're giving them this real-time information.
"We also know that some of the international visitors believe that these patrol flags are private beaches - so we needed to break the barrier down to let them know that these flags are the safest parts of the beaches."
Surf Life Saving Queensland said that of the more than 5000 rescues performed by its lifesavers since January 2017, almost 80 per cent were for incidents outside the red and yellow flags.
The new technology, called Life-Fi Source: Surf Life Saving Queensland
Mr Brennan said the organisation would look to expand the number of languages and introduce an audio element.
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said Life-Fi would make Queensland beaches more appealing to tourists.
“We want to give Queensland lifesavers the cutting-edge technology they need to make our beaches the safest in the world,” she said.
“That’s why 10 surf lifesaving clubs will receive Life-Fi later this year, with a further four mobile devices moving along the coast as needed.”
