Coast Guards in Australia - Western Australia

Western Australia

Neither the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol nor the Australian Volunteer Coastguard are active in Western Australia, which is the largest state with the longest coastline. Out to sea functions of coastal defence and policing are handled by the Royal Australian Navy. Inshore close to towns the West Australian Police co-ordinate local search and rescue between various state agencies (such as DOT, Fisheries and Water Police), Volunteer Sea Rescue Groups who provide the majority of the assets and not for profit companies such as Westpac helicopter.

Volunteer Sea Rescue Groups (VSRGs) form the core of the system with three main areas :

• Emergency response / Search And Rescue (SAR)
• Education
• Radio Monitoring

VSRGs are usually affiliated to FESA (State Fire and Emergency Services Association) or some maintain independence from government and act as charities (in much the same way as the RNLI in UK work). The 3 main VSRGs (and oldest in the state) are Independent and together form the Metro Sea Rescue Alliance with Cockburn VSRG (South of Perth), Fremantle VSRG (Middle of Perth and the Swan River) and Whitfords VSRG to the North of Perth all independent.

FESA supports and controls all or most of the other VSRGS in the state. Interestingly it is the independent groups that seem to have the most assets and newest equipment, without making judgments this is possibly because they are in the most dense urban areas of population aided by the likelihood that being independent allows them to control their own budgets and fundraising and the narrower span of control of its management.

SAR - VSRGs regularly patrol and man boats during weekends and public holidays as at these times the likelihood of a callout is higher. Most callouts these days result in unglamourous towing jobs rather than dashing rescues. This is a success of the system and modern technology. In the past with fewer radios, no EPIRBS, poor boater education and slower response times more breakdowns may have resulted in emergencies. Today callouts happen early by radio, boaters are better trained and carry safety equipment such as anchors or alternate propulsion. However accidents still do happen and VSRGs also regularly attend real emergencies.

VSRGs are usually equipped to handle emergencies such as : - Lost divers / man overboard - E.g. Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), searchlights - Lost vessels - medical emergencies - both at sea and around marinas - boats are usually equipped with backboards, O2, defiblirators - Vessel accidents and damage control - Towing

Education - WA has brought in a compulsory Recreational Skippers Ticket (RST). Many VSRGs train and license instructors to teach the RST as well as Yachting Australia and other courses such as "Coastal navigation", "National Powerboat", "Marine Radio Operator's Certificate" - these courses are put on regularly by the volunteer instructors and the proceeds go to the VSRG. Additionally educational programs such as speaking at clubs and schools may be carried out. Rescue Boat Crews also often help boaters at public boat ramps while on call in between patrols and spend time talking to boaters and promoting boating safety, education and equipment.

Radio monitoring - VSRGs provide radio monitoring services usually on Marine VHF and 27Mhz Marine CB. Some also monitor long range MF & HF frequencies. The Radio service is at the core of what VSRGs do in such a large and empty coastline. With the advent of DSC radios few ships even monitor Ch.16 anymore and in many parts of the world (e.g. UK) coastguard radio monitoring has dried up.

Some stations such as Whitfords, Fremantle and Cockburn provide 24/7 radio coverage with shifts of 3 volunteers (Senior and 2 operators) on weekends and public holidays, with usually 1 operator on during weekdays. Evenings the radio watch towers are not manned but instead through the use of computers and the internet radios are monitored at home by volunteers. This system is expanding so that more stations are able to run round the clock. Radio monitoring is a volunteer activity where retired people can actively volunteer in a sometimes exciting activity and retired volunteers provide the backbone of the radio monitoring service. The most important service that the Radio teams provide is allowing boaters and divers to "log on" and "log off" the water. Logging on is not compulsory, however its actively encouraged. With such a large body of water this is one of the best methods of raising the alarm. Boaters will call up VSRG and provide the following information :

• Callsign (many boaters join their local VSRG who give them a personal callsign and record their information for SAR purposes)
• # Persons on Board
• Fuel Carried
• DOT Registration Number
• Area of operation (in case they need to search for you)
• Expected Time of Return (ETR)

If the boater fails to check in and close the log (Similar to USCG Auxiliary "Float Plan") the VSRG will try to raise them by VHF, 27 MHz and mobile phone. If they are not contactable within 30mins Water Police are informed who will access Police boat and vehicle records (not available to VSRGs) and contact the home to check if they have returned. Sometimes Car and Trailer registrations numbers (Public info) is supplied to VSRGs who will check the boat ramp. If a search is Warranted Water Police will task agencies such as Police Launch or VSRGs to mount a search.

Most overdue boaters simply forget to log out however there are occasions where searches were mounted and survivors found simply because people were overdue. ALL BOATERS are encouraged to log on with VSRGs and TO REMEMBER TO LOG OFF (Real people burn real fuel and leave real jobs to come look for you in their own time) - And if they do not wish to log on with VSRG (e.g. they want to keep a fishing site private) they may log on by phone privately OR are encouraged to log on / off with a relative or friend, so that at least someone knows their whereabouts.

Contacting VSRGs in WA

• VHF Ch. 73
• 27Mhz Ch. 90 can be used to call up the local Sea Rescue Groups.
• If you live in and are boating around Perth metro Area, the 3 metro Alliance Sea Rescue Groups (Cockburn, Fremantle, Whitford) can be reached by phone on 1800 4 RESCUE either to log on / off or report overdue boaters.
• For Life threatening Emergencies only - contact WA Water Police on 000
• Alternatively contact FESA to find your local group,
• or look on charts where you can see the Name of local groups and their callsigns e.g. Whitfords "VJ6LQ" or Fremantle "VN6DI".
• If unsure call up "Sea Rescue" on Ch. 73, If you call up on VHF Ch.16 sea rescue groups will answer but will then direct you immediately to a working channel to keep Ch.16 clear for emergencies.