Caption:
SLSA is based at Bondi Beach. Image courtesy Harvie Allison.
Our structure and governance
Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is a highly federated and geographically dispersed corporate body with several organisational layers incorporating
305 local surf lifesaving clubs,
17 regional branches in NSW and Queensland, and
seven state and territory centres.
Under our constitution, these state and territory centres are the ‘owners’ of SLSA.
The peak policy and decision-making board for surf lifesaving in Australia is the SLSA Australian Council (AC), made up of the national President, the seven Presidents of each state and the Northern Territory, the directors of SLSA’s three operational areas - Lifesaving, Surf Sports and Development, and SLSA’s CEO.
The Presidents and Directors are all volunteers. The Directors of Lifesaving, Surf Sports and Development are assisted by their own boards.
The AC delegates the management of SLSA to the Board of Management (BOM), made up of the CEOs (or General Managers) of each State and the Northern Territory, the CEO of SLSA and four of his senior managers.
Click here for a full list of boards and committees.
By joining SLSA, an individual also joins a surf life saving club, which in turn, is affiliated with its state centre.
Membership of SLSA provides access to comprehensive, nationally-accredited, surf lifesaving training, the option to compete in surf carnivals at local, branch, state, national and international levels, as well as the protection of our insurance and other policies.
SLSA operates a number of subsidiary companies to provide helicopter rescue services in NSW, with the services in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia being operated by their state centres.
Rescue support operations – that is, rapid rescue and response teams, not linked to any one club – also operate in most states. Click here for more information.
SLSA is a foundation member of the International Lifesaving Federation (ILS), through which it maintains contacts with other ‘lifesaving nations’, and develops lifesaving expertise around the globe, as part of SLSA’s broader international humanitarian efforts as a non government organisation (NGO).
For further information: info@slsa.asn.au
Page updated: July 2008