The report, titled Drowning Deaths in Older People, examines data from the last 10 years to find out how and where older people drown and sets out guidelines to prevent older people drowning in the future.

The report said by looking in detail at the specific drowning circumstances for a particular age group, evidence-based prevention and reduction methods can be proposed and implemented.

In Australia from July 1 2011 to June 30 2012, 103 people aged 50 years and over drowned, or 36 per cent of all drowning deaths observed in that period. 

This proportion of drowning is mirrored across 2002 to 2012.

Over those 10 years, males accounted for 75 per cent of all drowning deaths in older people. 

The predominance of males as drowning victims was larger in the early years of the age range, 50 to 59 years. 

It also showed that most drowning deaths of people aged 85 years old and over occurred after a fall into the water.

New South Wales was the state with the most drowning deaths followed by Queensland and Victoria, with 425, 233 and 139 deaths, respectively.

Older people largely drowned where they live with 78 per cent of drowning victims registered as non-visitors. 

In remote areas more males drowned in comparison to women, with 90 per cent of all drowning deaths in those locations being males.

Rivers, creeks and streams were the main locations for drowning in people aged 50 years and over for the 10 years, with 289 cases, or 27 per cent. 

Of all drowning deaths in rivers, creeks and streams, 22 per cent were using watercraft.

Bathtubs and spa baths were the only locations where more females drowned when compared to males. 

It is interesting to note that even in older age, Australians engage in a lot of different aquatic activities as shown by the diversity of activities immediately prior to drowning. 

Falls were the second most numerous way elderly people drowned, 18 per cent. 

Activity was unknown in 14 per cent of all drowning deaths, suggesting they were alone when they drowned.

Of all drowning deaths, 37 per cent were known to involve alcohol and 30 per cent to involve drugs. 

Even though males continue to constitute the major percentage of alcohol-related drowning deaths, 69 per cent of all cases, the gender difference in alcohol-related drowning cases was smaller than the gender difference in drowning incidents not involving alcohol. 

Similar results were found for drug-related drowning deaths. 

The top five activities immediately prior to drowning in alcohol-related drowning deaths were falls, watercraft, swimming and recreating, non-aquatic transport and bathing. 

Falls were responsible for about 20 more cases of drug-related drowning deaths compared to alcohol-related cases. 

The second highest activity for drug-related drowning deaths was swimming and recreating, followed by watercraft, unknown activity and bathing.  Additionally, older people, and specifically people aged 65 years and over, are characterized by the increasing incidence of underlying medical conditions. 

The extent to which pre-existing medical conditions predispose to drowning risks remains unknown and deserves further investigation. 

The results from this study identify a number of issues to tackle when developing and implementing an overarching drowning prevention strategy for this age group, and that will guarantee the specific needs and lifestyles of older people in Australia are taken into account.

The report recommended a national public awareness campaign that targets known drowning hazards and risks for older people. 

The awareness campaign could target the role of underlying medical conditions in drowning, high risk activities for older people and strategies to reduce these risks or the role of alcohol and drugs in drowning.

It also encouraged participation in aquatic activity as a way of providing older people with water safety skills while at the same time improving their health and well-being in a low impact setting.