The National Pleasure Boat Safety Forum was established in 2000 to co-ordinate and implement recommendations following the Pleasure Boat Safety Advisory Group: Final Report in 1999.
The National Pleasure Boat Safety Forum members are:
The 1999 report made 13 principal recommendations, which provided a framework to build an integrated national safety strategy for recreational boating. The resulting national pleasure boat safety strategy led to a 50% reduction in recreational boating fatalities over the next 6 years. The strategy involved using a combination of education and targeted legislation to tackle the key risk factors in recreational boating fatalities. Introduction of a rule in mid-2003 made it compulsory for every recreational craft to carry a suitable lifejacket for every person on board.
The monitoring of trends by the National Pleasure Boat Safety Forum over the following years culminated in a review of the strategy, Boating Safety Strategy: 2007 Review of the New Zealand Pleasure Boat Safety Strategy. This review identified common features of fatal and non-fatal accidents – in nearly every boating accident where someone dies, one or more of the following factors is present:
As a result of the review, the forum agreed that continuing to focus on skipper responsibility and education targeting those four key factors is essential. The key findings of the 2007 review are summarised in Overview: Boating Safety Strategy.