What wai activity are you most hanging out for this raumati?
Agree with your thinking
Water safety,
Te puna Māori
We're here for you in and around wai this raumati
This raumati (summer), we're here for everyone who's in and around our wonderful wai (water) in Aotearoa.
We love our moana, our wai. We love a quick dip, or a manu off the wharf. Catching a wave, or gathering kai. In Aotearoa, being in and around wai is a way of life.
Wai can also change our lives. Last year ACC supported whānau (people) across Aotearoa who were injured in and around wai. And we helped whānau learn water safety skills.
38,000
The number of whānau we helped last year with wai-related injuries.
We’re here for prevention
We help prevent injuries too, investing in helping whānau stay safe in and around wai. Our mahi (work) with Water Safety NZ helps reinforce their Water Safety Code, and fund swimming and wai safety skills programmes.
For more specific wai safety information, these are great places to start:
Staying safe at the beach this raumati
How to keep young tamariki safe around wai
Boat safety - staying safe on wai
Staying safe while paddleboarding
We’re here for care and recovery if things go wrong
This raumati and over the next year, more than two million of us will be active in and around wai across Aotearoa. Our top activities include swimming, boating, fishing and gathering kai moana. There'll be 20 million visits to public pools, 1.8 million boaties out and about, and a whopping quarter of people across Aotearoa will go fishing. That’s a lot of enjoying wai activities and adventure - and from time to time things will go wrong.
If you're injured in or around wai, whether it's minor or life-changing, we work with you on the best way to support your care and recovery. We tailor our support to each individual who needs our help.
We can provide weekly compensation of up to 80% of your income if you're unable to work because of injury. We can also help with medical costs and equipment, support around the whare (house), and travel to work and medical appointments. This allows you to focus on recovery so you can get back to everyday life.
Improving wai safety for Māori
The Kia Maanu Kia Ora wai safety programme is run by Māori, for Māori and is funded by ACC in collaboration with Water Safety NZ and Tangaroa Ara Rau. This kaupapa Māori programme delivers important skills including:
- diving safely
- kai moana gathering
- river safety
- boat safety.
Wai safety code
Know the code before you go:
1. Be prepared
2. Watch out for yourself and others
3. Be aware of the dangers
4. Know your limits
Tips for tamariki around wai
Having fun in wai can turn dangerous in an instant. We should always look out for our tamariki in and around wai. Get tips on how to keep your tamariki safe this raumati.
Each year we help 200,000 tamariki learn how to have fun and be safe in wai.
We've partnered with Water Safety NZ to deliver the Water Skills for Life programme - teaching primary school-aged tamariki life-long water safety skills to keep themselves safe and keep an eye on their hoa (friends).
"Swim dumb and you're done" is the calling card of the Swim Reaper, a Water Safety NZ and ACC collaboration. The Swim Reaper looks out for anyone at high risk beaches, lakes and rivers making dumb decisions, reminding them that water can have deadly consequences.
Every injury is unique, because every tangata is unique. No matter who you are, if you're injured in an accident in Aotearoa, we're here to provide care and support to get you back to everyday life.
Many injured people might not even realise that we're involved in their care. 94% of people we help visit their doctor, a hospital or a physiotherapist and don't realise we do mahi in the background to help pay for that treatment.
If you've been injured in or around wai, some of the things we help with include:
- weekly compensation of up to 80% of your income
- doctor, hospital and physio visits
- equipment, eg crutches
- access to rongoā Māori services
- help around the whare
- help with personal care
- transport to medical appointments and mahi
- surgery for more serious injuries
- housing and vehicle modifications for more serious injuries.
