Aussie kids learn about water safety with new season of ABC television series Kangaroo Beach

The brains behind one of the nation’s most beloved children’s series is doing his part to teach young Aussies about water safety as WA grapples with 10 drowning deaths this summer so far.

Melbourne-based writer Tim Bain launched ABC series Kangaroo Beach in 2021 after living in London and working on shows like Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine.

The action-comedy animation series follows four cadet lifeguards — Pounce the kangaroo, Frizzy the koala, Neville the wombat and Gemma the platypus — who keep the water safe at Kangaroo Beach.

“Fireman Sam was a bit of an inspiration because we would get letters from families whose kids had reacted to a fire ... in the correct way because of stuff they learned from Fireman Sam,” Bain told The West.

“At the same time there are all these terrible incidents around Australia every summer in the water, and I thought it would be great to make a show that’s highly entertaining and fun and funny, but at its heart, has great messages about water safety that kids could use when they go to the beach.”

Season Three, which dropped on Monday, introduces a new character — Spyke the echidna; a “bush kid” loosely based on Bain’s upbringing in the Aussie countryside.

Together, the Kangaroo Beach crew teach Spyke about ocean dangers like rips and currents.

“She very much contrasts with the Kangaroo Beach cadets who very much know life on the beach but know nothing about the bush,” he said.

“They invite her to come and join the cadet training on the beach so she’s learning a whole bunch about water safety and water activities like surfing, body boarding, scuba diving and snorkelling.”

Bain said it was “imperative” young kids were taught about water safety.

“It’s just imperative that at the earliest age children know both about how fun water activities are, but also, that it can be dangerous,” he said.

“Children should know how to behave in water to get the upmost enjoyment from it without putting themselves at risk.”

Bain said the Bondi Beach lifesavers visited the studio to teach the crew about water safety and said he was “amazed” at how little he knew.

“I didn’t know how to get out of a rip, I didn’t know how to identify a rip in the first place, and that if you’re going to go in and rescue someone, you should bring something that floats with you, which is just so imperative,” he said.

“Starting kids from a very young age and giving them all that knowledge from the get go just sets them up for life in Australia where they can be safe as possible.”

Recent WA drownings include Curtin University professor Mohammad Shahidul Hasan Swapan and his wife Sabrina Ahmed who tragically died on December 28 while “selflessly” saving one of their daughters drowning near Walpole.

On January 14, a 43-year-old man drowned in Bremer Bay after desperately trying to save two children caught in a rip at Native Dog Beach.

The following day, Sio Afamasaga, 22, died in hospital after being caught in a rip at City Beach.

And just last week, Tyler Jury, 17, drowned at Lake Leschenaultia after becoming trapped underneath a pontoon.

“The summer drowning toll is a much bigger problem than people realise, each one is a different place, different time and different circumstance, but collectively this represents a big issue,” Royal Life Saving Australia WA chief executive Peter Leaversuch said.

“The best way to prevent drowning is to empower people with the skills and knowledge to look after themselves.”