Migrants in Australia are a vulnerable group to drowning, yet their participation in water safety programs remains limited. Previous research has focused on migrants already engaged in water-related activities, overlooking perceptions from those facing broader access challenges. Additionally, migrants have often been treated as a homogeneous group, neglecting intersectional factors such as age, gender, ethnicity and income level that influence access to programs.

This phenomenological qualitative study addresses these gaps by employing a novel approach to recruitment: conducting in-depth interviews with purposively selected recent migrants in a non-traditional setting—hairdressing salons—to capture diverse perspectives. A variety of ethnicities, ages and genders were recruited. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was used to analyse the data.

Findings showed that most migrants were unaware of water safety programmes. While acknowledging the importance of water safety, they prioritised other pressures, such as income generation. However, affordable and culturally tailored training programmes for adults, delivered in culturally safe environments, may enable participation. Social connections, especially among students, could also be leveraged. Although parents rarely participated, they prioritised enrolling their children in swim training. Ethnicity-specific adaptations, such as native-language trainers, were considered desirable. Informants suggested disseminating water safety information to migrants before arrival in Australia or through community magazines and universities.

This study highlights the importance of intersectional, community-driven designing of water safety programmes and demonstrates the effectiveness of innovative recruitment methods in reaching underrepresented migrant populations. These findings provide actionable insights for developing inclusive and accessible drowning prevention strategies.