Gibraltar Falls deaths force questions about public safety

The fact that daily visitation grew from handfuls to hundreds in the age of Instagram would come as no surprise to the many Canberrans who've swum those waters and captured that image.

Stephen Alegria, executive branch manager at ACT Parks, said the volume of water currently flowing from Gibraltar had definitely contributed to more people being attracted to the site this summer.

"To be able to go and take photos and experience the spray and the surrounding area," he said.

"It's just a beautiful area for a picnic and a walk."

The popular ACT waterhole has been closed for a fortnight. Authorities have signalled it will likely remain so for months pending the outcome of a safety assessment following separate incidents leading to the deaths of two young men in a single week.

Nineteen-year-old Thomas Livingstone is believed to have slipped while visiting the waterfalls with friends on February 12. The following Saturday, 22-year-old Patrick Prevett died while at Gibraltar with his sister and friends.

It is expected the two deaths will form a single coronial investigation, relying on expert advice to make recommendations for steps to improve safety.

While the coroner has not released specific details of the moments leading up to the men's deaths, initial investigations have indicated the circumstances were quite different.

Rewilding of unofficial tracks to the waterfalls, extra fencing and the addition of another viewing platform to change the perception of Gibraltar from a swimming spot to a bushwalking destination will be considered as part of the current safety review, authorities recognising its popularity on social media has increasingly drawn a different demographic.

Mr Alegria said the government had a role to play in keeping people safe, particularly as visitation to parks and reserves grew. He said that meant reviewing current safety precautions before deciding what changes might be required at Gibraltar.

Mr Alegria said the community had a responsibility too, which included sticking to defined trails and ensuring friends and family were aware of the inherent risk that came with spending time in nature.

"Canberra is changing, the population's growing. We have many members of our community that perhaps haven't been brought up here and might be new to the natural environment," he said.

"If social media is encouraging people to take photos in locations that are not safe, we really prefer people didn't do that and didn't use social media to promote their selfie shot.

"We don't want people exposed to those risks when they go beyond the marked trail."

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Most major incidents in ACT parks and reserves leading to deaths over the last 10 years have occurred around waterways, the varying flow of the Murrumbidgee catching out swimmers and boat users on multiple occasions.

At least eight people have accidentally drowned in ACT waterways since 2013, the most recent of which was last summer when a 75-year-old man drowned at Kambah Pools. The drownings are in addition to the deaths of the two young men at Gibraltar Falls.

Gibraltar Falls is not the first destination to experience a spike in visitation due to its popularity on social media. In June 2019, Waverley Council in Sydney passed a motion saying it would consider measures targeting tourists risking their lives for selfies on the rocks at Diamond Bay. The crackdown was prior to the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman within the space of 18 months.

George Kaplan is a co-founder of Lost Mountains, a group of outdoor adventurers promoting exploration in nature, focusing on their home in the Blue Mountains.

Images posted to the group's Instagram account, which has more than 16,000 followers, include tents seemingly pitched on the edge of a sheer cliff face and swimmers diving from rock faces into waterholes below.

Mr Kaplan said the group didn't see what they were doing as advocating extreme behaviour and they always pushed a safety message through their guidebooks.

He said while groups with large followings should set an example, safety in the outdoors came down to personal responsibility.

"It is not about gatekeeping. It's not about not putting these things online, it's about educating," he said.

Mr Kaplan, who competes in climbing competitions internationally, said Australia is already the butt of jokes abroad, seen as a nanny state when it comes to outdoor adventure.

"We are crippled by people saying things are not safe," he said.

"So they close things, they prohibit things, they make it so abnormal to get outside because you could hurt yourself, that even something like going for a swim in the ocean has people saying, 'don't, you'll get eaten, or stung, or you'll drown'."

Mr Kaplan said if people weren't getting ideas for risky behaviour from social media influencers or accounts like RedBull Sports, they were getting it from friends or associates they follow anyway.

"It's the internet, it's the future. The future should be education," he said.

The Australian Federal Police Search and Rescue team are often called on to respond to incidents on the ACT urban fringe when they have the potential to become fatal.

Over the years, this has included rock climbers who've experienced equipment failure or miscalculated a route or their competence level.

In general, climbers are usually well prepared with the required skills and equipment, police say.

Walkers, runners and mountain bike riders also occasionally require support from the AFP Search and Rescue team.

Getting lost, underestimating the time required for the activity and getting caught in poor weather with inadequate clothing have all been reoccurring issues over the years.

The Canberra Bushwalking Club has been trekking the trails throughout the ACT for more than 60 years, with few, if any, major incidents.

Club president Terrylea Reynolds said it's her understanding there's never been a death on one of their walks. She said a comprehensive safety induction is an important aspect of welcoming new members, as well as ensuring skilled leaders and appropriate gear is taken on every adventure.

Ms Reynolds said when there's a track the group stick to it, both for safety and to protect the environment.

"We would hate to see areas closed," she said.

"We are extraordinarily fortunate in this country to have so much bush land that is unexplored and untouched and is beautiful, pure wilderness.

"There's not a lot of that left overseas. So we're lucky to have it. But that means you have to have respect for the environment."

The club's 400 members can take part in river crossing training or toddler and family walks that teach little ones how to differentiate scat, how to safely walk along a tree trunk or scramble across rocks.

The children can attend river swims and learn how to behave if they spot a snake.

Ms Reynolds said access to the outdoors is part of what makes the ACT great, the pandemic providing evidence of how beneficial just an hour outside can be.

"I've only been bushwalking about seven or eight years and before that I didn't know how to use a compass, I didn't know how to use map, it's taught me so much," she said.

"Just being out in nature has been demonstrated to improve the serotonin in the brain and to just give you that feeling of being on a high.

"Often, if you're lucky enough to be in an area where your phone isn't working, you're listening, you're watching the birds, you're listening to the sounds, you're breathing the air.

"It's almost a mindfulness and the stillness that we don't get every day. And that's why we love it."

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