Water Safety Week: Are your pool and spa barriers compliant?

This week is Water Safety Week (30 November to 6 December) and Council is getting behind Kidsafe Victoria’s ‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ campaign, which calls on pool and spa owners to check the safety of their pool or spa barriers to help keep children safe in and around water.

Councillor Rob Steane said that with drowning a leading cause of accidental death in children under the age of five, pool and water safety is a vital issue that affects the entire community.

“While pool and spa barriers can be effective in reducing the risk of drowning incidents, evidence suggests that a large number of drowning deaths are the result of barriers that are faulty or non-compliant with Australian standards,” Cr Steane said.

“If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to check that pool and spa safety barriers are effective and working properly at all times,” he said.

Maroondah property owners should by now have registered their pool or spa with Council, which was due by the extended deadline of 1 November 2020.

New swimming pools or spas constructed after November 2020 must be registered within 30 days of receiving the relevant Occupancy Permit or Certificate of Final Inspection.

“If you have not yet registered your pool or spa, you must do so immediately, which you can do through our online portal,” Cr Steane said.

New laws introduced on 1 December 2019 by the Victorian Government requires mandatory registration of all pools and spas.

In addition, owners are required to provide regular certification to Council every four years from a registered building surveyor, certifying that their pool or spa safety barriers comply with the standard applicable at the time of their installation.

“Owners of properties with a swimming pool or spa, including landlords, have a legal obligation to ensure they maintain safety barriers to reduce the risk of unsupervised children gaining access. This includes above-ground, bathing, wading and portable pools and hot tubs capable of holding more than 300mm of water,” Cr Steane said.

According to recent figures from Royal Life Saving Australia, 12 Australian children aged 0-4 years died as a result of drowning in 2019-2020. The majority of these incidents occurred in backyard swimming pools.

“While these figures represent a 37 per cent decrease on 2018-2019 and a 52 per cent drop on the 10-year average, one drowning death is one too many,” Cr Steane said.

“Safety barriers and fences are no substitute for adult supervision. You should never leave small children unsupervised around water, and never rely on older children to supervise younger children in and around pools and spas,” he said.

“Toddlers can drown in as little as a few centimetres of water – this means that objects including buckets, inflatable/toddler wading pools, backyard ponds, eskies with melted ice and even pets’ drinking bowls can all pose a potential drowning hazard.

“Children require active adult supervision around water at all times, especially toddlers. This means being within arm’s reach, such as being with them in the pool or beside them in the bath,” Cr Steane added.

Council proactively inspects pools and spas each year to ensure safety barriers are compliant.

Council will maintain a register of swimming pools and spas within the municipality through owner registrations, existing records and aerial photography.

For more information on pool and spa compliance, visit our Swimming pool and spa registration and fencing page or phone Council on 1300 88 22 33.

Top 10 tips on water safety Always watch your children in and around water. If multiple adults are present, designate one of them to watch the children for a designated amount of time and then rotate. This technique will help prevent lapses in supervision. Don’t rely on water toys such as noodles or floating beds to keep children safe. If your child cannot swim, fit them with an appropriate personal flotation device (PFD), making sure to never take your eyes off them. Safety barriers must not be installed near trees, barbecues or other climbable structures that could allow children to gain access to the pool/or spa (this may include pot plants and outdoor furniture). Never prop open any gate providing access to the swimming pool or spa. Ensure there is no excess space under fence barriers where children can crawl under to gain access to a pool and/or spa. All gates must have a self-closing, self-latching device. All outdoor pools and/or spas built after 1 May 2010 must not have direct access to the pool area via a door from a building (i.e. house or garage). Teach children basic water safety tips and enrol them in swimming lessons. Share safety instructions with family, friends and neighbours. Learn to perform CPR on children and adults and update those skills regularly.