Austin owned a popular hairdressing salon in Berowra, North Sydney<\/a>, called Mel\u2019s Hair and Beauty which confirmed her passing in a social media post on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cWith broken hearts, we share the passing of Mel the beautiful owner of Mel\u2019s Hair and Beauty,\u201d the Facebook post reads.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kindly ask for privacy, understanding, and compassion during this incredibly painful time.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease be patient and kind with us as we navigate the next steps forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients and friends paid tribute to Austin in heartfelt comments under the post.<\/p>\n One said the news was \u201ccompletely unexpected\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI can hardly believe it\u2019s true. She will be so missed by everyone who knew her,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n Another added Austin was a \u201ctruly beautiful person and will be so deeply missed\u201d.<\/p>\n Her mother-in-law Jo-Anne Bovis told the Daily Telegraph<\/a> the incident occurred on the first day of a week-long holiday.<\/p>\n Austin was one of four people to have drowned<\/a> along Australia\u2019s East Coast on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n Queensland authorities have confirmed two deaths at iconic beaches within hours of each other, while NSW has confirmed one other fatality.<\/p>\n Searches remain ongoing<\/a> for a 14-year-old boy at Palm Beach, North Sydney, and a 25-year-old man at Coogee Beach, Sydney\u2019s East, after separate incidents over the turn of the New Year.<\/p>\n The incidents were just some of the more than 85 rescues performed by NSW life savers since Christmas Day, sparking an urgent warning for those entering the ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conditions are super dangerous right up and down the coastline and that 24-hour period where we saw a big cluster of drownings and massive rescues and CPRs,\u201d Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce told Sunrise.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just so dangerous to go in and just so frustrating to see tragic losses of life that could have been prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n He added all of the incidents occurred at beaches unpatrolled by lifesavers due to the holiday period.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly dangerous to go in there,\u201d Pearce said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are travelling to so many locations, we can\u2019t have lifesavers and lifeguards standing on every beach.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re just trying to direct and herald people to just go to those locations where the red and yellow flags are because it does show the importance of a patrolled location.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Boy killed riding e-bike into pole<\/p>\n 1 min read<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/db6482762e48dc43a0a37812d463554c193e0750.png\")
A mother-of-two who drowned on New Year\u2019s Day has been identified as 45-year-old Melissa Austin. Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n