Background Indigenous Australians are 1.7 times more likely to drown than the rest of the population. Excluding Indigenous Australians, the two most over-represented groups in drowning statistics are people from rural and remote communities and migrants (representing 61% and 30% of all drowning deaths respectively).

The Australian Water Safety Strategy 2020–30 identifies social determinants as risk factors for drowning; however, analysis on these determinants is scarce, and culturally acceptable solutions need to be explored.

Objective To establish new empirical evidence on social determinants that are of major importance to target in strategies to reduce drowning deaths in Australia.

Methods With due data governance and ethics approvals, we will access geocoded drowning data for the period of 2001–2021 from the National Fatal Drowning Database owned by Royal Life Saving Society Australia. This data will be linked with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on social determinants of health, including population mobility, non-English language and low annual income. Additionally, we will seek data from the Australian Actuaries Climate Index on extreme events that may have contributed to drowning deaths including heat, floods, and extreme event risk.

Demographic analysis will be conducted using statistical software. The data will be grouped across 3-year rolling periods with 1-year overlap (2001–2003, 2003–2005, etc.) to ensure sufficient numbers across time periods for a robust analysis. To further minimise sparseness in sample, the data will be mapped to Statistical Area 3 level for analysis. To visually map the spatial convergence of drowning data, kernel density maps of drowning clusters will be used.

Results To build the required evidence, we will utilise the Conceptual framework of Social Determinants of Health, developed by the World Health Organization. The framework will guide the empirical work in a way that enhances our understanding of social determinants of drowning. This will highlight areas of priority and will guide our recommendations for future strategies and research through a multisectoral lens.

Conclusions Targeting social determinants through tailored water safety programs and strategies is key to influencing behaviour change. Our findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated to media and stakeholders.