The Impact of Project Elevate in 2025

Making Swimming Accessible for All

In 2025, Royal Life Saving NSW continued its commitment to making swimming accessible for all through the NSW Government’s Learn to Swim for At-Risk Communities initiative.

Through Project Elevate, we are breaking down barriers to participation and ensuring more people have access to lifesaving swimming and water safety skills.

2025 Program Delivery Snapshot

This year, Project Elevate delivered over 50,000 swimming lessons to children and adults across New South Wales, supporting participants from:

• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds

• Low socio-economic communities

• First Nations communities

• Regional and remote areas

Across our adult, high school and primary school programs, many participants overcame a fear of water or experienced structured swimming lessons for the first time.

Building Confidence, Skills and Safety

Project Elevate programs focus on more than just swimming technique. Participants developed:

• Increased confidence in and around water

• Fundamental swimming and survival skills

• Greater awareness of water safety and risk

These skills play a vital role in helping individuals and communities stay safe, particularly as we head into the summer months.

What’s Next: SwimVAC 2026

Looking ahead, Project Elevate’s next major milestone is the fully funded SwimVAC program, running 12–23 January 2026.

The program will deliver:

• 452 classes

• Across 85 venues

• To more than 2,500 children and adults in regional NSW

  
  

Supporting Communities and the Aquatic Industry

Beyond teaching lifesaving skills, SwimVAC also supports the broader aquatic industry by providing swim teachers with valuable summer employment, helping to strengthen the workforce while delivering critical community outcomes.

Here are some of our favourite photos from the program in 2025!