Win-win for Indigenous surfing program

SURFING Victoria’s initiative to gather surf gear collecting dust for its Indigenous program has been a success with the help of Rip Curl.

The program, which started 18 months ago, began as a call out across Surfing Victoria’s EDM and social media channel and led to about 30 wetsuit donations, but things took an upward turn when the crew at Rip Curl saw an opportunity. Jordie Campbell, the Indigenous Aquatics Officer at Surfing Victoria said it was a win-win.

“Around the same time Rip Curl had started their wetsuit recycling program which is designed to get all the old Rip Curl stock off cuts and recycle it into things like flooring. But they ended up with a lot of wetsuits that were too good,” he said.

“Within the Victorian Indigenous program we run, one of the biggest hurdles that the communities have to navigate is the access to equipment. Although surf can be cheap, there is a big financial ask to start, and people have so much stuff under the house and in the garage.”

Rip Curl’s purchasing manager Shasta O’Laughlin said the initiative allowed Rip Curl to hand over wetsuits which could be reused.

“When we launched the program we had individuals bringing in a number of suits each, some of which had been in cupboards for years and some still had many surf left in them, so it seemed fitting to pass them onto Surfing Vic to use for their indigenous program. It keeps them out of landfill and gives them a longer life cycle.”

The donation bin is still active at Rip Curls Torquay store.