Midnight swim is a saviour for troubled Western Australian community

The public swimming pool in the remote Western Australian settlement of Fitzroy Crossing is gaining publicity for its unique, aquatic based solution to a serious social problem.

ABC Kimberley reports that Fitzroy Crossing's public pool is being opened at midnight on welfare paydays in an effort to spare indigenous teenagers from alcohol-related abuse and to remove them from the temptation of petty crime.

In the report, Ben Collins reports that more than 40 teenagers were enjoying a cool swim on a 30 degree November Friday night.

He says the program is an initiative of Royal Life Saving WA’s Aaron Jacobs, who manages the pool in the majority Indigenous Kimberley town.

“There's always been an issue with a lot of youth walking the streets at night time, sometimes getting up to no good,” he says.

“So I just wished to provide them with a good supervised and safe spot to be, and hopefully be a good mentor.”

He says the kids have embraced the program.

“We do fruit for laps, which is a program run by Royal Lifesaving Society, and we might have a game of aqua-basketball. I'm really happy they're here, in a sense, because they're off the street.”

Go to the ABC website to read the full report.