The first five minutes of a shark bite are considered to be the most crucial, and now one Perth council is looking to install kits to help if the unthinkable happens.
The Town of Cambridge appears set to become the first local government in Western Australia to install 10 Community Shark Bite Kits along its beaches, as early as July.
At its February ordinary council meeting, Town of Cambridge councillors voted unanimously to allocate $10,000 in the 2026-27 budget towards the purchase, installation and maintenance of the kits.
Danny Schouten created the kit in NSW after his friend, Kai McKenzie, lost his leg to a great white shark while surfing in Port Macquarie in 2024.
“Kai was extremely lucky that the only person on the beach that day was a retired police officer who just happened to be walking his dog and was trained in how to make a makeshift tourniquet, which saved Kai’s life,” Schouten said.
“There have been countless similar stories over the years, how it was luck or chance that there was a doctor on the beach, or they were able to make a makeshift tourniquet from a bikini top or leg rope.
“I thought, why is it always left to chance or luck, there are products out there for this exact purpose, so why don’t we have the resources and information available and accessible for everyone and anyone to use at any time of the day?”
The kits include one SOF-T tourniquet, two conforming bandages, two large dressings, an emergency thermal blanket, an emergency whistle, gloves, an amputated parts bag, permanent marker and a card with step-by-step instructions on how to treat a shark bite.
“There’s no point in them being locked away in a surf club or tower before 9am and after 5pm. We need access to them 24/7,” Schouten said.
“Unfortunately, the truth is accidents will continue to occur, because we are Aussies, we love, live and breathe the ocean. We’re not going to stop doing what we love, so we just need to be better prepared in the future.”
The kits are put together by a team of volunteers and funded through a GoFundMe page.
A complete kit costs $250, with a replacement fetching $150.
Shark attack statistics
According to the Australian Shark-Incident Database, there have been 61 shark attacks that resulted in injuries in WA over the past decade, including nine fatalities.
The most recent were surfer Steven Payne, 37, who was mauled by a shark in chest-deep water at Wharton’s Beach east of Esperance on March 10, 2025, and Stella Berry, 16 who was fatally mauled by a suspected bull shark while swimming with a pod of dolphins in the Swan River near the old Fremantle Traffic Bridge on February 4, 2023.
The data also showed that of all the Australian states, WA ranked second highest for shark attacks, with NSW coming in at 74 attacks – eight of those being fatalities.
A Western Australian first
While the Town of Cambridge voted to support $10,000 of the 2026-27 budget going towards the kits, it is not guaranteed that the plan will go ahead until the budget is adopted in June.
However, councillor Georgie Randklev said the installation of these kits were “really important”.
“I just hope that you support this motion and that we can start being prepared because the first five minutes of a shark bite is the five minutes that count,” she said during the council meeting.
“That’s why these are really important. Our surf lifesavers are there on some of the beaches, but I timed my kids trying to run to the surf life-saving tower from Floreat Groyne the other day, and it took about 10 to 12 minutes before they arrived back. And, you know, that’s just not enough time.”
Randklev noted that there are over 200 kits installed across the East Coast with another 150 coming thanks to NSW government funding.
Town of Cambridge mayor Gary Mack said councillors were proud to be the first local government in the Perth metro area to consider the installation of the kits on their beaches.
“This is a simple, low‑cost safety initiative that recognises the reality that when a serious incident occurs, minutes matter,” he said.
“These kits put life‑saving equipment right where it’s needed, giving anyone the chance to save a life. Our goal is to make sure community safety is never left to chance.”
Schouten said he was thrilled people were getting behind the kits across the country.
“I’m so stoked [The Town of Cambridge] is on board and hoping more councils in WA follow suit and get them for their beaches,” he said.
