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Bambigi founder Piper Stewart helps 300 Indigenous kids learn to swim in Griffith

A young woman smiling in front of an indoor pool.

When Piper Stewart was 12, she did not see a lot of other Indigenous kids at pools. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes)

The teenage founder of an Indigenous swimming charity is graduating from high school having helped more than 300 First Nations children learn to swim. 

When Piper Stewart was 12 years old, she noticed there were not many other Indigenous children swimming at her local pool at Griffith, in southern New South Wales.

The Gulidjan girl did not realise it was because many First Nations families could not afford the lessons.

"I went to my mum and asked, 'Why?', and she told me how much swimming lessons are, not just for a term but a year, and carnival entry," she said.

"So, I decided I would raise money to help Indigenous kids get into swimming lessons and help learn this life skill."

Since then, the now 17-year-old has raised about $40,000 through her charity Bambigi, which means "to swim" in Wiradjuri, to pay for hundreds of Indigenous kids in the region to have swimming lessons.

The young change-maker is proud of the impact her fundraising has had on the pool community.

A local indoor pool.

Bambigi has raised about $40,000 to provide Indigenous kids with swimming lessons. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes)

"Some make squad; some make it to state-level swimming, and we've had some relay teams that progressed to quite a high level," she said.

"This is all about giving back to the community — they've done so much to support me."

For her efforts, Piper was recently named Royal Lifesaving Australia's Young Innovator of the Year.

Closing the drowning gap

Royal Lifesaving Australia figures show Indigenous people are 1.7 times more likely to drown than the non-Indigenous population.

A woman at a pool with an award.

Piper Stewart is Royal Lifesaving Australia's 2023 Young Innovator of the Year. (ABC Riverina: Lucas Forbes)

Piper says the fact that Indigenous people may not have access to a safe place to learn to swim is another reason why she started Bambigi.

 "We have a channel that runs through the middle of town and the river is just a couple of kilometres out of town — they're unsafe, but it's cheaper than swimming lessons," she said.

Royal Lifesaving Australia's national manager for research and policy, Stacey Pidgeon, said there had been a big reduction in the number of Indigenous drownings in Australia, but more needed to be done.

"What we have seen, which is incredibly pleasing, is that in the past 10 years there has been a 47 per cent decline in Indigenous people [drowning]," she said.

"Unfortunately they still are 1.7 times more likely to drown than non-indigenous people."

Piper said she hoped to continue Bambigi wherever she went to university. 

"Hopefully when I move away, I can take the program with me," she said.

"I can consult with the community and if they think it's a good idea, I can start it up there."