Expert says beachgoers ‘don’t have the choice’ to swim between the flags

Expert Dr Rob Brander has said that beachgoers often don’t have the choice to swim between the flags.

Dr Brander, an Associate Professor at the University of NSW, told the TODAY Show that there are not enough patrolled beaches across Australia.

A total of 291 people drowned in the country’s waterways between 2016-2017- 17 percent of the total fatalities were at beaches.

Currently, only four percent of swim spots in the country have flags.

“Often people don’t have the choice (to swim between the flags)…what are you going to do when you’re on an unpatrolled beach,” he said.

Dr Brander added that authorities needs to think of creative ways to get swimmers to travel to patrolled beaches during the summer, and beach safety information needs to be more readily available.

“We need to think about a way to deliver the message…it’s about motivating people to be smart.”

Earlier Dr Brander was quoted in the Gold Coast Bulletin declaring flags at beaches had lost their effectiveness- a claim he said was taken out of context.

“When people stand up and say swim between the red and yellow flags, it’s useless, it’s like a useless message,” the newspaper quoted the Associate Professor as saying.

“Flags are not a useless system,” he said.

“The red and yellow flags are absolutely an effective system…they work.”

Dr Brander, often referred to as “Dr Rip” due to his vast knowledge of beach safety, said his main message to the public was that flags are not implemented at all beaches.