History of the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships date from the first ‘New South Wales’ championships, held at Bondi Beach, Sydney on 20 March 1915. At that event, Bondi SBLSC won the Senior Rescue and Resuscitation (R&R) Premiership. 

With the exception of the two World War years, they have continued uninterrupted at the end of every season. For most of the early years the Aussies were held in the Sydney area.

In 1947 they switched to Queensland for the first time and rotated around the various states. The Championships were held at Kurrawa in 2006 and moved to Scarborough Beach in Western Australia in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In 2008, SLSA announced a long term deal that secured the future of event right through to 2022. Kurrawa will host the event from 2010 to 2012, after which the plan will be to rotate the event between other states and the Gold Coast every two years. 

The Aussies has grown to become the largest event of its type in the world, with more than 290 events for competitors aged 16 years right through to masters competitors.