RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY
Royal Life saving unifies drowning prevention efforts through research, advocacy and stakeholder collaboration
EDUCATION
Royal Life saving provides water safety education for the community, to ensure everyone knows how to participate safely around water.
SWIM TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
Royal Life Saving supports swim teachers and schools with training, resources, and national standards to deliver safe, effective, and inclusive aquatic education.
LEARN TO SWIM
Royal Life Saving’s Learn to Swim programs build vital water safety and swimming skills that help prevent drowning and support lifelong confidence in the water.
Workforce development
Royal Life Saving brings stakeholders together to unify efforts, share expertise and deliver impactful solutions.
COURSES
Royal Life Saving offers a wide range of training courses suitable for community members and all levels of aquatic industry professionals.
LIFESAVING PROGRAMS
Royal Life Saving’s programs build rescue and resuscitation skills to help individuals respond confidently in aquatic emergencies.
LIFESAVING SPORT
Royal Life Saving offers members the opportunity to participate in Pool Lifesaving Sport at all skill levels.
ROYAL LIFE SAVING
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The Teacher of Lifesaving course is an online professional development program that covers the fundamentals of providing engaging, effective, and safe teaching in a lifesaving context. It is designed to upskill current swimming and water safety teachers or physical education teachers by developing the context, techniques, and strategies required to deliver lifesaving skills such as personal survival, rescue, and resuscitation.
The course acknowledges that teachers bring varying levels of prior knowledge and experience. It builds on this expertise by encouraging reflection on teaching practices, addressing knowledge gaps, and linking theory to practice to improve learner outcomes and overall program quality.
Key content includes:
Teaching personal survival skills
Teaching rescue techniques
Teaching resuscitation
Delivering lifesaving games and activities
Applying effective and inclusive teaching strategies
A range of interactive learning activities are used, including video demonstrations, hypotheticals, scenarios, knowledge prompts, drag-and-drop, and click-and-reveal tiles.
This course is designed for current swimming and water safety teachers, or physical education teachers, who wish to extend their expertise into lifesaving. It is also suitable for teachers seeking recognised professional development hours with AUSTSWIM and Royal Life Saving.
The course consists of a self-paced online component and an optional face-to-face component. The program contributes approximately 2 hours of recognised professional development for AUSTSWIM and Royal Life Saving swim teacher licence schemes.
Participants must meet the following requirements before enrolment:
Minimum age of 16 years
Current CPR Certificate (HLTAID009 / equivalent superseded unit)
Current Working With Children Check (relevant to your state/territory)
Current Royal Life Saving membership
Learners complete interactive online modules that include knowledge checks, practical teaching applications, and reflective exercises. The optional face-to-face component involves delivering lifesaving lessons under supervision, where participants demonstrate their ability to apply course content in practice.
On successful completion, participants will receive the Teacher of Lifesaving Award.
The Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations (GSPO) recommend that specialist swim teacher accreditations, including the Teacher of Lifesaving, are renewed every three years. Please also refer to specific industry standards and guidelines.
Course Calendar
There are currently no scheduled courses for
Teacher of Lifesaving
“Thanks for your interest in our courses. While we don’t currently have sessions scheduled, we are planning our next round soon. If you’d like, we can add you to our priority list so you’ll be the first to know when new dates open.”