Nekton

to anybody who could afford to buy, there existed few facilities where cylinders could be re-charged!

Many clubs pooled their resources to buy communal equipment. Armed with military diving manuals and the few books then available, learning to dive became largely a matter of teaching one's self before passing on the knowledge gained to others. Already competent snorkellers with good water skills, these people often regarded diving as just an extension of their spear-fishing activities.

Beginning to capture the public imagination as an adventure activity in its own right, a number of establishments offering recreational diving training began to appear, (the first in Victoria, in 1953). Often reflecting a military or commercial approach to what was taught, the course content varied enormously.

In an attempt to provide a uniformed approach to diving and spear-fishing, the Australian Underwater Federation (AUF) was founded at the beginning of 1960. A national body with government approved status, the AUF produced the country's first non-compulsory diving standards, originally basing them on those of the British Sub-Aqua Club.

Although spear-fishing still proved a popular activity with divers throughout the 'Sixties, (until an Act of Parliament, in the latter part of the decade, banned SCUBA divers from carrying   such   weapons.), a   few   were turning   their   attention   to    underwater film-making. Receiving international acclaim for the   calibre   of their   documentaries, names like Ben Cropp and Ron and Valerie Taylor,   joined those of Hans Hasse and Jacques    Cousteau    in    promoting    and popularising diving.

Meeting a growing public demand to learn to dive, more specialised dive shops began to appear. Training, however, often remained a secondary function to selling equipment and most still structured their own course programmes,   offering   store-specific cert-
ification   cards   that   had   little   national recognition.

By the end of the 'Sixties, the country's small recreational diving industry - although

The PADI system was introduced into Australia in 1970, followed, in 1972, by the Federation of Australian Underwater Instructors (FAUI), (who, two decades later, amalgamated with NASDS). These were followed by NAUI (1981); SSI (1989); and, in 1994, a smaller agency, Australian Underwater Scuba Instructors (AUSI).

Increasingly convinced of the need for a peak industry body representing every facet of diving, the Dive Industry Travel Association (DITA), better known as Dive Australia, was formed in 1984.

Also tasked with organising an annual regional dive show, Dive Australia worked closely with State and Federal governments to establish a Diving Code of Practice that has since been adopted as a blueprint by many other countries. Despite a membership decision taken in 1997, to wind up the organisation, the spirit of co-operation that it fostered still survives.

Active in 'advanced' diving practices, Australia readily embraced the technical diving revolution. Founded in 1973, to educate people in cave diving exploration techniques, the Cave Diver's Association of Australia (CDAA) was already well established by the time IAND (now IANTD), conducted the country's first Nitrox course, in 1991. Other technical diving agencies soon followed, including ANDI and TDI

Despite a temporary government ban on the use of trimix, (lasting from 1991 - 1994), training is now available in all of the more esoteric aspects of diving, including the use of rebreathers.

Dive tourism, however, still remains the mainstay. With an abundance of underwater natural attractions, Australian recreational diving's early spear-fishing origins has given way to that of enthusiastic environmentalism.

This attitude to self-sufficiency prompted many developments and refinements in equipment. Ted Eldred, of Melbourne, had, by 1953, already designed the world's first two-stage, single-hose regulator that he named the, 'Porpoise'. Copied by other local manufacturers, the 'Porpoise', eventually out-performed and outsold the twin-
hose 'Aqualung' on a world-wide scale.

Throughout the 'Fifties, underwater clubs around the country flourished and small quantities of Scuba diving equipment became available through sports stores. Although freely available

As in many parts of the world, it was the growing popularity of spear-fishing in Australia during the 'Thirties and 'Forties that paved the way for recreational diving.

A geographically remote continent, the developments in diving equipment and techniques taking place overseas only slowly percolated through to Australia. Even following the Second World War - and through into the 'Fifties - spear-fishing enthusiasts intrigued by the idea of spending longer underwater were obliged to fall back on their own resources. Many, applying knowledge gained through overseas military service, began to adapt existing technologies to their own purpose.

Using gas-masks, pressure regulators, gauges and air-craft oxygen cylinders scavenged from war surplus stock, some enthusiasts created their own rebreathers, while at least one person, (basing his design on written reports of the newly developed Cousteau-
Gagnan 'Aqualung'), built and successfully tested an open-circuit scuba unit as early as 1951, two years before the first of the overseas made 'Aqualungs' arrived in Australia.