Volunteer surf lifesavers are worried the organisation is prioritising surf sport competitions over its core business of lifesaving.

Key points: An analysis of 19 surf lifesaving clubs shows 15 per cent of expenditure spent on surf competitions, 6 per cent spent on lifesaving

Experts in rescue boats say the choice for the next generation of boats for surf lifesavers prioritises racing

Senior figures describe culture in surf life saving as "political"

ABC's Background Briefing has spoken to high-profile members of the surf lifesaving movement who have described a continual wrestle for resources between spending on sport and rescue equipment.

Club members who patrol Australian beaches notice the competition in priorities, according to Jayson Norris, a coal miner and a volunteer surf lifesaver at Windang on the NSW south coast.

"The people on the beach are my first priority," he said. "The dollars and cents getting thrown towards surf sports really gets my bugbear."

"Our operators [frontline lifesavers] are putting their hand in pocket for their own gear, where our surf sports guys seem to get whatever they want."

Coal miner and volunteer surf lifesaver Jayson Norris said lifesavers sometimes had to dig into their own pockets for equipment. ( ABC News: Katherine Gregory )

Background Briefing has seen independent financial analysis of 19 clubs in Sydney's northern beaches.

In 2017, the clubs put more than 15 per cent of their total expenditure into surf competitions compared with 6 per cent spent on lifesaving.

Both the CEOs at Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) and Surf NSW said that at the national and state levels lifesaving received the lion's share of funding.

Adam Weir said surf competitions were important for lifesaving.

"What's great about our sport is that it's actually designed to keep our lifesavers rescue ready," he said.

But nevertheless, concerns have been raised about funding priorities at the highest levels of the surf lifesaving movement, including by Richard Budd, the official adviser to SLSA on boat and jet ski purchases.

"If you talk to people on the beaches it's great to have competition, no-one disputes that," he said.

"There is a concern — and it's not just my concern — there's a concern across the board that we aren't gearing our people up correctly."

Choice of new rescue boats called into question

This conflict between surf competitions and lifesaving has come to a head over the rollout of a new fleet of rescue boats.

Surf equipment experts said the crafts ordered by SLSA have a much smaller working area than what was originally specified by them a decade ago.

The space is important because it's where lifesavers initially treat someone who has been pulled from the water.

Mr Budd raised his concerns about SLSA's choice of the Thundercat G-3 as a rescue boat in official emails over a year ago.

"This craft is all about competition, because clubs that compete will pay a premium price for a craft that will clearly have the edge in speed," he said in an email.

Another email sent from a state lifesaving director to a group of SLSA's boat compliance experts said:

"The specification seems to suit a racing boat rather than a piece of rescue equipment first and foremost."

These concerns are shared by rescue boat experts, including Peter Hallett, an instructor and supplier of rescue craft.

"If we're going to do a mass rescue what would I like?" he asked.

"What I like is to put someone in a boat that they're going to fit in, not one we're going to squeeze them in and probably compromise their safety."

"And I'll be honest here, I actually haven't got a problem with the manufacturer. I have a problem with the compliance people," said Mr Hallett, whose former business partner now heads up Thundercat Inflatables.

"If competition stops tomorrow, we've still got to save lives," said Mr Hallett.

"When it comes to best practice, injury and litigation, all of a sudden instead of being a leader in power craft we are left behind in the safety."

Inflatable rescue boats are used by lifesavers in rescue operations. ( Supplied: Audience submitted. )

Adam Weir, the CEO of SLSA, denied the Thundercat was designed more for racing than lifesaving.

"The Thundercat meets the agreed specification. So in terms of its working area it meets the requirements under the explicit specification," he said.

"But there is no one-size-fits-all craft for every club around the country, so it really comes down to choice for clubs and understanding their own environments."

Thundercat inflatables has also told the ABC claims its boat working area is too small are false and it meets SLSA's specifications.

The specifications have been updated repeatedly in recent years.

The head of Thundercat Inflatables Rob Thomas said none of the G-3 boats is used for competition. He said the G-3 was built for lifesaving and patrol.

He also denied that his boat is more expensive and he built the boat to the specifications he received from Surf Australia.

For the people raising concerns, there are fears they could face consequences from a surf lifesaving movement that has become political and resistant to scrutiny.

Head office denies this assertion.

"I don't know whether it's just the way the system is, but if you start rocking the boat, next minute the person rocking the boat is usually gone," said Mr Budd, 60, who has been involved in surf lifesaving since he was 13 years old.

Leadership out to sea

Just last month, former Surf NSW general manager Matthew Hanks was charged with the alleged embezzlement of $2.7 million from the charity.

There were also questions being asked about the lack of proper governance at Surf NSW that a former club director said "had the effect of lowering public trust and confidence in the clubs".

A former president of Surf Life Saving Australia said governance wasn't working at the time. ( Surf Life Saving Queensland )

Ron Rankin, former president of SLSA, said leadership during that period was asleep at the wheel.

"Obviously the governance wasn't working," he said.

"It sends a message to the whole organisation to be more conscious of what's going on in their own administration."

David Murray became president of Surf NSW when problems, including the investigation into the club's financial issues, were first discovered.

But according to Mr Murray, his attempts to implement change were not well met by the "old guard".

He was hit with a grievance motion — also known as a formal complaint — over comments he made at a life members luncheon in March this year.

The motion led by his predecessor alleged Mr Murray intended to preclude eligible members from running as executives at Surf NSW.

The Esperance Goldfields Surf Life Saving Club patrols Twilight beach between 9am and 3pm on Sundays. ( ABC Esperance: Rebecca Brewin )

Mr Murray strongly denied making the comments and the ABC has seen letters of support for him from other high-profile members.

This whole process is one of several reasons why Mr Murray resigned as president and a director of the Surf NSW board earlier this year.

Current CEO of Surf NSW, Steve Pearce, described the organisation as "one of the most political entities I've seen."

"David [Murray], through his actions and the board's directions, obviously did upset some people within the organisation," said Mr Pearce.

"I'd have to say in his tenure as a president he did a magnificent job."

But Mr Murray said the final straw was when he got pushback from the head office at SLSA for asking questions about how much money was being funnelled into surf sports and lifesaving.

"We're a rescue service, a volunteer rescue service," he said. "We're on a very tight financial ship and you know any surplus funding or any government funding related to an activity in sport is to be managed professionally."

He said, even as someone who managed multimillion dollar business, he found it hard to really ascertain how it worked.

"I think it's a quick board meeting, numbers being thrown everywhere. And yet when you ask the questions you get told you can't have them."

But Mr Weir said the board had never rejected any requests for information from directors.

He also said lifesaving did get the lion's share of funding and surf competitions were important for lifesaving.

"The funding that's put into surf sports is actually playing a role in getting our lifesavers fit and capable and ready to perform rescue," he said.

Jayson Norris said he wanted people to be proud of joining the surf lifesaving community. ( ABC News: Katherine Gregory )

Jayson Norris, for one, is worried about the future of the oldest volunteer surf rescue organisation in the world.

"We need the resources to go on the beach so that the public's safe, our operators are safe," he said.

Mr Norris said his hope was for members of the public to step in, reclaim lifesaving from the current leadership and make people "be proud about becoming a lifesaver" again.