Parents are being warned to watch their children around water this summer.

School holidays are underway and heatwave-like conditions are expected to return.

Last summer 41 people lost their lives in NSW waterways, so a new advertising campaign is urging families to ‘Be Water Safe, Not Sorry’ in a bid to prevent more deaths.

Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant speaks with Michael McLaren about the importance of water safety over the Christmas period.

“It was just horrific last year.

“There was no clear trend other than the trend was up and it was the greatest number in that period we’ve ever witnessed.

“It has to be all about supervision.

“The material we’re using in this advertising campaign, it’s confronting, so we make no apologies for that.”

Are report from Royal Life Saving shows 78% of people who drown are men.

“We’ve lost the equivalent of a cricket team every year over the last decade.”

Listen to the full interview below