Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) today announced a long-term deal that will secure the future for one of the country’s most iconic events, the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, right through to 2022.

Following discussions over the past week, SLSA and the Queensland Government today signed a Heads of Agreement for ‘the Aussies’, as they are known, to be held on the Gold Coast for three years from 2010 to 2012, after which the plan is to rotate the event between other states and the Gold Coast every two years.

Thus, the Gold Coast will host at least seven Australian Surf Life Saving Championships between 2010 and 2022 (ie 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020).

Other states will be able to bid for the event in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

SLSA President, Ron Rankin AM said that the announcement represented a win-win for all parties.

“SLSA’s members will have the opportunity to compete in a number of different states, while allowing the event to consolidate its growth with a semi-permanent base on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“The Aussies are the peak event for the country’s 40,000 active surf lifesavers and on average attract more than 7,000 competitors and officials, with tens of thousands of spectators over the course of six days,” he said.

“Our goal has always been to develop a long-term schedule for our showcase event and we are now able to provide greater certainty for our members, the host venue and other key stakeholders such as the local tourism industry and sponsors.

“We will be actively encouraging other regions around Australia to develop venues to the standards similar to those that exist on the Gold Coast and Scarborough (WA) and that are proposed for Coffs Harbour and the Central Coast of NSW, so that they too could be considered to host this great event on a regular basis in the future.”

Following advice that the preferred venue for 2010 at Coffs Harbour would not be ready in time, SLSA put the option to host the event in that year out to tender and since August has been negotiating with the proponents of the only tender received, from the Central Coast of NSW.

“Despite the excellent bid put together by the consortium from the central coast of NSW and the many natural advantages of the Lakes Beach site, there are several technical issues which impact on the venue’s current suitability to host an event the size of the Aussies in a manner our members, supporters and stakeholders expect,” Mr Rankin said.

“As the bid did not fully comply with a number of the specifications set out in the tender documents the tender process was officially terminated, however we continued to negotiate with the consortium to determine whether the Aussies could be conducted at the site.

“We were highly impressed by the enthusiasm and professionalism of the Central Coast bid, and hope to work with proponents of the Lakes Beach site in relation to future events.

“In the end we decided that the offer from the Queensland Government and the Gold Coast City Council should be accepted so that planning can begin immediately for the 2010 event which after all, is now less than 18 months away,” he said.

“During confidential discussions with the government we have been able to resolve a wide range of uncertainties to allow us to reach this in-principle agreement.

“Given the strong interest from NSW we are keen to continue dialogue with Events NSW to secure the Aussies for that state in 2013 and 2014 at the very least, hopefully on a regular basis thereafter.”

“We look forward to working with Queensland Events Corporation and the Gold Coast City Council to ensure the return of the Aussies to the east coast is as successful as our time in the west,” he concluded.

The new venue schedule is consistent with the heritage of the championships, as from 1915 to 1947 they were held in the Sydney area, after which they rotated around the various states.

From 1995 to 2006 they were held at Kurrawa and moved to Scarborough Beach in Western Australia for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In 2007 the championships won the prestigious Western Australian Tourism Award in the Major Festivals and Events category, while an independent economic study found that they were worth more than $23 million to the Western Australian economy that year.

The dates of the 2010 Australian Surf Life Saving Championships at Kurrawa Beach will be announced in the coming weeks following further discussions with stakeholders.

[…ends]

For further information:
Lauren Ryan
Media and Communications Officer
Surf Life Saving Australia
0402 162 807