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24 surf lifesavers across six Australian states and New Zealand joined together in Sydney from 26th January to 1st February for the annual Surf Life Saving Australia National Leadership College (NLC).

In place for over 30 years, the program aims to develop and enhance leadership skills for members aged between 20 and 30 and challenges participants intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically.

The rising leaders had the opportunity to learn from a variety of guest speakers and participate in a range of workshops such as: Leadership, mental health, growth mindset, communication, building and maintaining relationships.

Guest speakers at the College included former NSW Rural Fire Service and Resilience NSW Commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons; Clinical Psychologist Dr Diana Chan, former AFL player Tom Downie and Surf Life Saving Australia Chief Executive, Adam Weir.

Commenting on the program, Weir explained “(the) National Leadership College for Surf Life Saving Australia is a great opportunity for young leaders coming through the organisation to come and learn a bit more about Surf Life Saving Australia and how the federation really clicks together.

“In the seven states and territories we have 315 clubs operating in lots of different environments around the coast and the experiences that we have at a local level are really important, but everyone experiences surf lifesaving differently, and the real power of the organisation is when we come together around that common purpose of saving lives and bringing our community together.

“It is an opportunity to share information amongst each other to help develop their skills and how they lead in Surf Life Saving and can then hopefully go on to bigger opportunities in the organization as they learn about the different pathways.”

Surf Life Saving Australia’s Chair of Development Nancy Joseph echoed these sentiments and endorsed the program as being critical to the future of the movement.

Joseph added “as custodians of this organisation, leadership is really critical to the future success of surf lifesaving in Australia and beyond/

“These programs equip participants with tools, strategies, strategies to grow their mindset and ideas for ways that they can do things differently and implement change in their clubs, states and even nationally.

“Without programs like this we don’t get the culture shift, the diversity of thinking and the diversity that this organisation needs.”

Images: Attendees at Surf Life Saving’s 2025 National Leadership College. Credit: Surf Life Saving Australia.

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