Surf Life Saving in Australia came about through the efforts of people who defied the law! To explain, up to the start of this century, people had the idea that the human form in a bathing costume was indecent. Hence the law stipulated that bathing was prohibited during the daylight. Also, the sexes were segregated.

The origins of Surf Life Saving can be traced back to the actions of Mr William Gocher, at Manly Beach in September 1902. Similar actions by other people who defied the laws by bathing during the prohibited time (daylight hours) forced the laws to be changed - thus the now very popular recreational and sporting pastime, surfing, began to grow into what it is today - part of the Australian way of life.

As surf bathing grew rapidly in popularity, its dangers just as rapidly became apparent. Therefore small groups of experienced and regular surfers who were concerned with the rising incident of drownings in the surf, began to form themselves into lifesaving bodies to assist those who required to be rescued from an unfamiliar environment.

As these clubs grew in size and numbers, there was the need for a united front to raise funds, and to improve lifesaving techniques. This resulted in the formation of the New South Wales Surf Bathing Association in 1907. This was later changed to Surf Life Saving Australia.

Surf Life Saving in Queensland began on Coolangatta Beach on 21st February, 1909. From these very humble beginnings of a fragmented voluntary surf rescue service, Surf Life Saving Australia has now achieved world recognition for the outstanding courage and service of its members.

At present in Australia there are 305 Clubs with over 113,000 members who protect the bathing public around the beautiful Australian coastline. In Queensland, there are fifty-nine (59) clubs with in excess of 36 000 members.

From our earliest days, the Association's motto has not changed - "Vigilance and Service". Our Association's objectives and aims are rather extensive, but deal primarily with Surf Safety and the public need, i.e. to watch over and care for the people who use the ocean beaches. To this end the records speak for themselves - a total of almost 500,000 lives have been saved.

Community education is a major objective also, as the Association is convinced that preventing a rescue has much greater value than effecting one.

Physical fitness is another aspect of the functional activities, and competition through a program of Surf Carnivals attends to this.

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