Royal Life Saving Society - Australia has issued an urgent plea to Australians to become more conscious of the risk of drowning after a horror week where 10 lives were lost across Australia and many more people had to be rescued.

Royal Life Saving CEO, Rob Bradley, said the deaths were a tragic reminder that Australians need to be less complacent around water.

"There is a peak in drowning deaths over holiday periods each year for two reasons: on holidays people are more relaxed and less aware of the risks and more people have the time to be on, in, or around water with friends and family. Inclement weather over the Easter break this year also put people at more risk of drowning," Mr Bradley said.

"Families often never recover from the loss of a loved one through drowning.

"The sad fact is that even 10 deaths is probably not the complete figure for drowning deaths in the last seven days. Babies who drown in baths, small children who drown in backyard pools and older people who drown are often not picked up in media reports, so we'll expect to hear about more drowning deaths for this period from Coroners across Australia.

"We also know through media reports of at least 16 people who almost drowned over the same period.

"The range of ages of the people who have drowned this week, from 12 to 62, shows that everyone in our community is at risk of drowning.

"Many of the people who died in the past week were very competent swimmers and very experienced around the water.

What that shows is it's not necessarily skill or experience that will save your life.

"We're pleading with people not to become a drowning statistic this year. Simple precautions save lives.

"Those precautions include:

• Don't drive through floodwaters.
• Get familiar with Royal Life Saving's four "Keep Watch" actions - especially supervising your children, particularly keeping young children within arm's reach around the water.
• Always swim with a friend.
• Never swim in floodwaters or enter stormwater drains as the water level can rise and the strength of the current can increase without warning.
• If you've had a beer, don't pull on the boardies. A new Royal Life Saving NSW study showed up to 30 per cent of adults who drown in NSW have alcohol in their system.
• Swim between the flags. Sea currents can be unpredictable.
• Check the weather forecasts before setting out for any activities on, in or around water as floodwaters and storms can prove fatal.
• Wear a personal flotation device whenever you are on, in or around water.
• Do a Bronze Medallion course.
• Learn CPR.

• April 9 - 35-year-old father of two dies while swimming at Rainbow Beach, Bonny Hills, NSW.
• April 10 - 23-year-old man drowns off WA coast near Denmark after being caught in a rip.
• April 11 - A fisherman, 66, drowns near the mouth of the Patterson River at Carrum, VIC after slipping while getting back onto the dock.
• April 12 - 58-year-old man drowns at Redgate Beach, SA while swimming with his son.
• April 12 - 34-year-old man dies trying to save his sister and a friend at New Brighton Beach, NSW.
• April 13 -12-year-old girl drowned after being swept from a weir while swimming, Caboolture River, QLD.
• April 13 - 19-year-old woman drowned after her car was washed off a road in flash flooding near Cootamundra, NSW.
• April 14 - Two fisherman aged 62 and 61, drown in seas off the Yorke Peninsula, SA.
• April 15 - A student, 21, drowns on the Gold Coast, QLD while diving.

• April 10 - Broadbeach lifesavers revived a 27-year-old Brisbane man who was plucked unconscious from the water.
• April 11 or 12 - A 42-year-old man from Irymple, NSW broke his neck after diving from a riverbank into shallow water.
• April 12 - Federal MP Chris Trevor his son, 16, and a friend save three drowning children who were caught in a rip and a father who got into trouble trying to rescue them at Wreck Rock Beach, near Agnes Water, QLD.
• April 13 - A diver was taken to hospital after he nearly drowned off a Malabar Beach, NSW.
• April 13 - Two men almost drown after their 4WD was washed off the road in floodwaters on the Bruce Highway, just south of Maryborough, QLD.
• April 13 - A 20-year-old woman was flown to Sydney 's Westmead Hospital after coming off an inflatable tube being towed behind a boat at Wisemans Ferry, NSW.
• April 13 - Five English tourists were rescued after spending the night stranded on a river bank after their car was swept away as they attempted to travel to Tin Can Bay, QLD.
• April 13 - The Tin Can Bay Coastguard rescued two people from a yacht after it sank on the Wide Bay Bar, QLD.
• April 15 - Police officer rescues a woman from floodwaters after her car is swept downstream south of Gympie, QLD.