Proposed amendments to rock fishing laws pass upper house as Wollongong council looks at Hill 60 safety

Proposed amendments to the Rock Fishing Safety Act that would make life jackets or wetsuits and appropriate footwear compulsory for rock fishers along the NSW coast have passed the upper house of parliament.

As the law stands, councils have to opt in to make life jackets mandatory for high-risk spots in their local government areas.

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Warilla resident Bede Potts, who had some 50 years of rock fishing experience, said legislation would help but ultimately rock fishing safety still came down to common sense and education.

"It will help, but there's more to rock fishing than throwing a line in the ocean," Mr Potts said, the problem for many being that they "don't understand the water".

He said fishers also needed to know that different footwear was appropriate for different surfaces.

If there was water running off the rocks, he said, fishers should find somewhere else to fish or go home.

"It's basically bloody common sense," Mr Potts said.

Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW president Stan Konstantaras said the proposed amendments reflected the laws anglers wanted all along.

Mr Konstantaras said rock fishers were not consulted when the original legislation was drafted and the government dismissed the organisation from its advisory committee.

"Anglers always wanted wetsuits and appropriate footwear included, so that's good to see," he said.

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Like Mr Potts, Mr Konstantaras said education was vital.

"Appropriate footwear will save your life," he said.

Labor has supported the proposed amendments but for Wollongong MP Paul Scully education is also an essential element of improving safety.

"A life jacket mandate at Hill 60 cannot come without an education and information campaign," Mr Scully said.

He said he hoped Wollongong City Council did not delay and did choose to opt in to the existing legislative provisions to make life jackets mandatory at Hill 60.

Of the 27 coastal local government areas in NSW, only eight have opted in to make life jackets mandatory at high-risk locations.

Almost three weeks ago Wollongong councillors resolved to begin the process of joining them, which started with talking to the community about the proposal.

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the council was undertaking that engagement process now, feedback from which would go back to councillors to consider.

But Cr Bradbery said he expected the council would sign up to the act.

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He said the state government should have made life jackets mandatory, but it was on everyone to act safely and that came down to education.

Six rock fishers have lost their lives at Hill 60 in the space of 16 months, most recently 19-year-old Berkeley resident Brenden Buxton Hurd.

Mr Hurd died when he was swept off Honeycomb Rocks on Anzac Day.

The proposed amendments to the rock fishing safety legislation still have to pass parliament's lower house before becoming law, but the government voted against them in the upper house.

Nationals MLC Sam Farraway said the changes, if passed, would "reduce safety for rock fishers and increase the burden on local councils and police" and allowing wetsuits instead of life jackets was "dangerous".

But Mr Konstantaras said many fishers - himself included - wore wetsuits, and surfers wore them in big surf without question.

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