Australian Lifeguard Services or Coffs council. Who should employ the people who protect local swimmers?

The festering dispute between City of Coffs Harbour and local lifeguard advocates is set to flare up again tomorrow at the 5pm meeting.

At the centre of the debate is whether council should outsource its lifeguard services.

What happened?

During the closed part of the council meeting on July 24, a staff report was presented to councillors providing an overview of the council’s lifeguard services during the 2024/25 season.

It included what council staff described as “an unsolicited proposal” from Australian Lifeguard Services (ALS), a subsidiary of Surf Lifesaving NSW.

City of Coffs Harbour lifeguards are currently employed by council. A council spokesperson told the Mid North Coaster there are currently five permanent staff.

ALS says it employs 700 lifeguards across Australia at more than 200 beaches.

The staff report sought permission from councillors to exempt the General Manager from initiating a tender process, thus allowing council to negotiate directly with ALS over a potential contract.

Although the matter regarding ALS was discussed in a closed section of the meeting, details were subsequently leaked, triggering a campaign from the United Services Union (USU), which represents the lifeguards.

The USU has accused council of making a “backroom deal” and prioritising privatisation over the safety of beachgoers and the job security of its members. The USU sought an intervention from the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC), and hearings were held on August 7 and 14.

“It was found that the IRC hearing on 14 August 2025 confirmed the City has followed the Local Government Act, tendering guidelines requirements and the Local Government (State) Award," City Of Coffs Harbour said in council papers for Thursday night’s meeting.

Council says its staff continue to meet with ALS “to discuss the opportunity to provide lifeguarding services”.

Concerns of losing career professionals  

A petition to keep Coffs lifeguards in-house was created on August 7 by Save Coffs Lifeguards. At the time of publication, the petition had more than 2,300 signatures.

Greg Hackfath, former Coffs Harbour Lifeguards Team Leader, told the Mid North Coaster that council had run the lifeguard service for 40 years and that the team was “well established”.

“We've got some career professional lifeguards in there that have been in the system for a long time and know the job backwards,” said Hackfath, who retired in July after 27 years. “By going over to contract, there's a very high chance that they'll lose those career professionals.”

Hackfath expressed concern that outsourcing may lead to lower wages and penalty rates. 

Council staff claimed “misinformation” had been circulating in the wake of the July 24 meeting.

On Thursday night Councillor Tony Judge will seek the backing of fellow councillors to commit to retaining lifeguards as council employees.

Thumbnail: Coffs Harbour Lifeguards Facebook page.