NEW research, real-time tracking and expanded drone surveillance lead a $4.2 million NSW Government initiative to keep people safer in the water this summer.
The investment follows an unprecedented number of attacks in recent weeks and the need for better education and community messaging on shark behaviour – particularly before and after weather events.
Surf Life Saving NSW (SLS NSW) shark surveillance has been significantly expanded with 30 beaches added to the 50 currently monitored during school holidays.
Nineteen of the new sites are in Sydney and 11 are in regional NSW.
They include Crowdy Head, where a woman was killed and a man was seriously injured in late November.
In the Port Stephens Local Government Area (LGA), drones currently operate at Fingal Bay and Birubi surf life saving clubs.
While, in addition to Crowdy Head, drones in the MidCoast Council LGA are at Cape Hawke, Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest, Forster and Black Head.
Drones will also increase operations to seven days a week through to the end of the April school holidays.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said the new package represents a 90 percent increase on the current shark surveillance drone program, which means an additional 35,000 flying hours from 24 January to 26 April.
“We know our SLS drones are an effective eye in the sky when it comes to early shark detection and warning beach users,” he said.
“So far in 2025/26, 50 Surf Life Saving NSW drones from Tweed to Bega have completed 29,431 flights over 8044 flying hours.
“During that time 461 sharks were sighted.
“Our lifeguards and lifesavers enacted 170 countermeasures including beach evacuations, beach siren, drone siren, and rescue vessels.”
The additional funding follows heightened community concern and recognises the importance of clear, evidence-based safety messaging for swimmers and surfers.
In announcing the new measures, Minister for Agriculture, Regional and Western NSW Tara Moriarty, acknowledged that there is no single solution to preventing shark attacks.
“No government can ever promise to make the water completely safe, which is why we’re using a range of tools to keep people informed and as safe as possible,” she said.
As part of the package, the NSW Government will strengthen community awareness, with an expanded SharkSmart education campaign, an additional mobile education van, new and updated signage, and increased social media alerts and community warnings during periods of elevated risk.
Shark listening stations will be installed in Sydney Harbour, allowing faster detection of tagged sharks, while focused research on bull sharks in the harbour and other estuaries will be carried out, including tagging and monitoring led by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) shark scientists.
These measures sit alongside the 2025/26 Shark Management Program already operating across NSW, which includes 305 SMART (Shark Management Alert in Real Time) drumlines in 19 local government areas for year-round coverage, and tracking the movements of tagged sharks via 37 tagged shark listening stations, with at least one station in every coastal local government area for year-round coverage.
In December, the Government announced an additional $2.5 million enhancement to its 2025/26 program, with drones starting a week earlier than normal in summer; weekend flights from February to April; an expedited rollout of additional drones and training for Surfing NSW; and, triple the funding for the rollout of community shark bite kits in regional coastal areas.
All drone locations across NSW can be found on the SharkSmart website at sharksmart.nsw.gov.au/.
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