A chance to fix a long-standing problem
For years, lifejacket rules in New Zealand have amounted to a confusing tangle of regional bylaws. A skipper legal in one harbour may be in breach of the rules twenty minutes up the coast. Many boaties head out genuinely unsure what is required of them. The Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, now before Parliament, puts the issue squarely back on the agenda and presents what may be the best opportunity in a generation to address a persistent safety gap.
Water Safety New Zealand and Coastguard Tautiaki Moana both back the Bill, but neither organisation thinks it goes far enough. What they want is a single, unambiguous national rule covering every person aboard a recreational craft, not only those under 15. Their position is built on decades of drowning data and hard-won experience on the water.
Glen Scanlon from Water Safety NZ says the evidence is difficult to argue with.
"Millions of Kiwis head out on boats and small craft. We know lifejackets save lives, and too many people have died without one on."
The numbers behind the call are sobering. This year alone, 10 people have drowned from boats or other craft while not wearing a lifejacket. Going back to 2000, more than 320 New Zealanders have died in the same circumstances. The majority were adults, many of them experienced, confident boaties undone by something sudden: a change in conditions, a mechanical failure, or an unexpected slip over the side. Water Safety NZ analysis points to a consistent finding: normalising lifejacket use, rather than leaving it to individual judgement, could prevent around a dozen deaths every year.
Coastguard CEO Carl McOnie has seen what those numbers mean at the human level.
"These people aren't just statistics. They're family members. A lifejacket often gives us the chance to rescue someone. Without it, the outcome changes fast."
The current patchwork of regional bylaws sits at the heart of the problem. Some councils require lifejackets to be worn at all times on small craft. Others leave the decision entirely to the skipper. For visitors, new boaties, and even experienced locals moving between areas, keeping track of what applies where is genuinely difficult. Water Safety NZ and Coastguard argue that this inconsistency is not a minor administrative inconvenience but an avoidable contributor to risk. A single national rule would remove the uncertainty entirely, bringing New Zealand into line with what many other boating nations already treat as a basic, unremarkable expectation.
The Bill itself focuses on those under 15, and the safety groups are supportive of that intention. The concern is that the age-based scope leaves the larger problem unaddressed. Fatal boating incidents disproportionately involve adults, and a rule that stops at 15 does nothing to change that reality. Both organisations argue that any legislation worth passing should cover all ages and apply uniformly across all small craft, regardless of where in the country people happen to be launching.
The Bill's current limitations aside, it opens a door that does not come around often. For Water Safety NZ and Coastguard, it represents the most realistic chance in years to establish a national standard that reflects what the evidence has long shown: lifejackets save lives, but only when people are actually wearing them.
Public submissions on the Bill close on 11 December 2025 and can be lodged through the Parliament website. Both organisations are encouraging boaties to make their voices heard and to push for a rule that extends beyond the under-15 focus of the current Bill.
Key points to consider raising in a submission include: • Support the Bill's aim, but extend it to all ages • Replace the differing regional rules with one national requirement • Make lifejacket use simple and consistent for all craft users
Submissions can be made at:
www3.parliament.nz/life-jackets-for-children-and-young-persons-bill
More information:
The case for acting here is not abstract. Incidents on the water develop in an instant. A rogue wake, a sudden gust, or a single misstep can put someone overboard with no time to retrieve a lifejacket stowed under a seat. Having it on from the moment you leave the ramp is what makes it useful.
New Zealand has been through this before with other safety measures. Mandatory pool fencing brought a sharp drop in child drownings, showing that well-designed national legislation can produce real, measurable results. Safety advocates believe a consistent lifejacket rule has the same potential for recreational boating. The Bill, whatever its current limitations, is a starting point, and the submission process is the moment to help shape what it becomes.
