Coroner calls drowning of five-year-old girl ‘a tragic accident’

The girl, her mother, and extended family and friends had set up a picnic for the day at Blayney Reserve where the girl was swimming with a small inflatable ring.

Her mother decided to swim to a buoy in deep water, and told the girl to put some sunscreen on.

While swimming, she turned back to face the shore twice.

The first time, she saw one of the adults applying sunscreen to the girl, and the second time, she saw her daughter had gotten back in the water with the inflatable ring on.

She yelled out and told her to return to the shore because there wasn’t anyone in the water with her.

There were two adults on the shore, while others had left to buy takeaway food in town.

When she turned around again, she saw the inflatable ring in the water but couldn’t see her daughter anywhere.

All the adults at the reserve began searching for the girl, before contacting emergency services about 10 minutes after she’d gone missing.

When police began to arrive, the girl’s mother found her in reeds near the edge of the lake, fully submerged in water about one metre deep.

Police and paramedics did CPR on the five-year-old, but she couldn’t be revived and was declared dead at 4.10pm.

The girl’s mother said although her daughter was confident and “loved spending time in the water”, she was a “very non-skilled swimmer” and “not that great when the water got too deep”.

Releasing her findings into the drowning, Coroner Ingrid Giles called the girl’s death “a tragic accident”.

“I find that during a short lapse in supervision, she entered the water at Lake Nagambie alone and drowned,” she said.

“She was described as confident around water, but at just five years old, her swimming skills were limited.”

Ms Giles noted the inflatable ring was considered an aquatic toy and not a swimming or flotation aid because it wasn’t “attachable to the wearer”.

She said although there were adults in the water and on the bank of the lake, no-one had “eyes on her” at all times.

“She drowned without being observed, in circumstances in which she was swimming with the aid of an inflatable ring that was easily removable, and where there was no lifeguard present,” she said.

“The need for close and continuous supervision by an adult was paramount.”

Ms Giles said 40 children between zero and five years old drowned in Victoria from 2014 to 2024, and 12 of the deaths happened at inland waterways.

“Of the 40 drowning deaths ... identified by the Coroners Prevention Unit, 36 occurred where the child was not appropriately supervised,” she said.

“More specifically, 10 of the 12 inland waterway drowning deaths occurred in the absence of adequate supervision.”

Ms Giles also noted opportunities to prevent future deaths of children in similar circumstances, highlighting the importance of supervision and safety at inland waterways.

In her findings, Ms Giles recommended Strathbogie Shire Council work with the Victorian Water Safety Coordination Forum, Life Saving Victoria and other organisations to ensure appropriate safety measures were in place to promote the safety of people participating in recreational water activities.

Measures she recommended included appropriate signage, depth warnings and fencing.