18.1 Change Log

Version History

Version	Changes	Endorsed By	Date
1.0	Initial Version	Sean Faulkner Head of Lifesaving and Emergency Operations Mike Hartas Chair, Lifesaving Advisory Committee	28/08/24
1.1	Removed Adverse Weather Conditions from 3.3 Surf Club Patrol Requirements. Added 8.11 Adverse Weather and Environmental Conditions (“Inclement Weather”).	Sean Faulkner General Manager, Public Safety and Member Services	18/09/25
2.0	Major review and update of the SOP set, including new procedures, completed SAR guidance, revised operational requirements and structural changes. View detailed changes	Sean Faulkner General Manager, Public Safety	12/09/26
2.1	Updated app references throughout the SOPs to SurfAssist app (formerly Operations App) on first reference in each SOP, and SurfAssist app thereafter.	Manager, Technologies and State Operations Centre	10/10/26

Version 2.0 – 2026 SOP Review

Version 2.0 represents a comprehensive review of the SLSSA Standard Operating Procedures, incorporating member feedback, operational review, identified gaps and improvements to the structure and navigation of the SOP set.

New Procedures

• Added SOP 1.7 – Member Injury Reporting, creating a dedicated process for reporting and recording injuries to SLS personnel.

• Added SOP 3.12 – Rescue Ready, defining minimum personnel, equipment, IRB and communications readiness requirements.

• Added SOP 3.13 – Gear and Equipment Disposal to provide requirements for the disposal of lifesaving gear and equipment.

• Added SOP 12.1 – Command, Control and Coordination Operations, establishing the command, control and coordination framework for emergency management operations.

• Added SOP 14.4 – Problem UAVs (Drones) to provide reporting, separation and escalation requirements for unauthorised or problem UAVs affecting lifesaving operations.

Work Health and Safety, Licences and Equipment

• Updated SOP 1.2 – Drugs and Alcohol to clarify that the prohibition applies while a person is on duty.

• Updated SOP 4.1 – Licences to clarify licence requirements for rescue vessels and vehicles and that government licences do not replace required Surf Life Saving qualifications or endorsements.

• Updated SOP 4.6 – Marine Mammals to introduce minimum PPE requirements when handling or working near marine mammals, including gloves, face mask, protective eyewear and long sleeved clothing.

• Updated SOP 5.1 – Lifesaving Vehicles to correct references to lifesaving vessels and expand vehicle authorisation, compliance, equipment, branding and amber warning light requirements.

• Updated SOP 5.2 – Side By Side Vehicles (SSVs) to clarify P plate requirements for provisional licence holders and the ability for clubs and services to apply local driver authorisation requirements.

• Updated SOP 5.6 – Oxygen Resuscitation Equipment to correct clinical terminology from “oropharyngeal masks” to “oropharyngeal airways”.

• Updated SOP 5.7 – Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to clarify that AED kits should be stored in a water resistant carry case, with a waterproof pelican type case preferred.

• Updated SOP 5.8 – Methoxyflurane to clarify that methoxyflurane is commonly known as Penthrox or the “green whistle”.

Communications

• Updated SOP 7.1 – Radio Communications to require the designated Patrol Captain radio to remain available for the full patrol and for SOC to be notified if it is unavailable or unserviceable.

• Updated SOP 7.2 – Radio Equipment Specifications to provide a pathway for extended radio approvals for external agencies and stakeholders with an ongoing operational requirement.

• Expanded SOP 7.4 – Communications Security to clarify requirements for sensitive operational information, recording and releasing communications, and social media.

• Updated SOP 7.7 – Call Signs to reflect current operational call signs, including RWC assets designated RWC 1–10 and radio call signs JET SKI 1–10.

Patrol Operations

• Restructured SOP 8.1 – Beach Management Principles and introduced separate procedures for SOP 8.1.1 – Patrol Captain Responsibilities, SOP 8.1.2 – Senior Lifeguard Responsibilities and SOP 8.1.3 – Patrol Team Responsibilities.

• Updated SOP 8.4 – Conclusion of Patrol Operations to include Rescue Ready arrangements for IRBs at the conclusion of patrol operations.

• Expanded SOP 8.6 – Beach Vehicle Operations with clearer requirements for operational beach driving, beach access, terrain and environmental considerations.

• Expanded and renamed SOP 8.9 – Marine Pollution and Environmental Contamination to address harmful algal blooms, fish kills, foam, odours and airborne irritants and provide clearer controls for patrol modification and member safety.

• Updated SOP 8.10 – Beach Attendance Monitoring to align beach attendance reporting to the start, middle and end of patrol using consistent water, beach and watercraft categories.

• Expanded SOP 8.11 – Adverse Weather and Environmental Conditions (“Inclement Weather”) to include severe weather, heat, harmful algal blooms, airborne hazards, patrol modification, withdrawal and Duty Officer endorsement.

Emergency Operations

• Completed SOP 9.2 – Lost or Missing Persons, replacing the previous “To be issued” placeholder with an operational response procedure.

• Updated SOP 9.3 – Requesting an Ambulance to clarify the Position, Problem, People, Progress reporting format and redefine “Progress” as what is occurring to progress the incident.

• Updated SOP 9.4 – Requesting Helicopter Support to clarify the rostered Duty Officer’s authority to approve helicopter tasking where deployment may provide operational benefit.

• Updated SOP 9.10 – Tsunami Operations to identify the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre as the authoritative warning source and recognise potential SOC relocation or degraded capability during a land warning.

• Updated SOP 10.1 – Reduced Visibility Operations to define civil twilight and reduced visibility and clarify authorised operational response capability in low light and night conditions.

Search and Rescue

Completed Section 11 – Search and Rescue Operations, replacing the previous “To be issued” procedures with operational guidance covering:

• SAR responsibilities
• SAR stages
• Risk versus gain
• SAR information factors
• SMEAC briefings
• Parallel line search patterns
• Creeping line search patterns
• Expanding square search patterns
• Underwater search and rescue
• Information exchange during transfer of command
• Conclusion of SAR operations

Emergency Management and Response Operations

Renamed and expanded Section 12 as Emergency Management and Response Operations.

Changes include:

• Added SOP 12.1 – Command, Control and Coordination Operations.

• Renumbered and expanded SOP 12.2 – State Operations Centre (SOC) – SURFCOM.

• Renumbered and clarified SOP 12.3 – Surf Emergency Response System (SERS) (“13 SURF”).

• Updated SOP 12.4 – Surf Club Emergency Response Teams (ERT) within the expanded section.

• Renumbered SOP 12.5 – Coastal Safety Camera Network (CSCN).

• Moved SOP 12.6 – SurfAssist app into Section 12, separating system guidance from operational reporting requirements.

Operational Reporting

Created Section 13 – Operational Reporting to separate reporting requirements from the systems used to record them.

• Added SOP 13.1 – Patrol Reporting, consolidating patrol reporting requirements including start, middle and end of patrol reporting.

• Renamed and restructured SOP 13.2 – Incident Reporting and Recording, separating incident reporting requirements from the SurfAssist app used to record them.

Vessels and Aircraft

• Updated SOP 14.1 – Helicopter Landing Site to resolve conflicting landing site dimensions, confirming 30 m × 30 m as the minimum and 50 m × 50 m as recommended.

• Updated SOP 14.2 – Over Water Helicopter Interaction so the procedure applies across powered rescue watercraft, including IRBs, RWCs and JRBs, rather than being primarily IRB focused.

• Expanded SOP 14.3 – RPAS Operations (Drones) to include organisation wide authorisation, governance, privacy, tasking and reporting requirements.

• Added SOP 14.4 – Problem UAVs (Drones) to provide reporting, separation and escalation requirements for unauthorised or problem UAVs affecting lifesaving operations.

Critical Incident Management and Member Support

Renamed and expanded Section 15 as Critical Incident Management and Member Support.

• Renamed and expanded SOP 15.1 – Critical Incidents.

• Renamed and broadened SOP 15.2 – Operational Debriefing beyond critical incidents and corrected links to member welfare support.

• Expanded SOP 15.3 – Member Welfare and Critical Incident Support to provide clearer member support pathways.

Site Wide Improvements

• Standardised terminology, naming, operational call signs and cross references throughout the SOP set, including use of “SLS personnel”, gender neutral terminology and “Surfguard”.

• Corrected broken internal links and outdated section references.

• Corrected malformed tables, heading inconsistencies, image and display issues and other navigation and formatting defects.

• Consolidated duplicated requirements and improved cross references between related procedures.

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