Pool Safety

With more than 10,000 backyard swimming pools in Wyong Shire, pool safety is a big community issue. Pools can be great fun, however, for some, they have also resulted in tragedy.  Drowning of young children can happen quickly and silently.

Wyong Shire Council plays a role in ensuring that pool safety is maintained and is one of few local authorities in NSW that carries out swimming pool safety audits.

As a consequence of audit inspections, properties found to have defective pool safety fencing are served with notices to ensure that they comply with the law.

Council carries out its audit inspections on a rolling program that attempts to ensure that every property with a swimming pool will be inspected over the next five to eight years.

While fencing and regular checks to ensure the reliability of the fence and gates may help reduce drowning in backyard pools, there is no protection or safety equipment that can replace adequate supervision of children by a parent or another responsible adult.

Research conducted on child drownings in backyard swimming pools indicates that the most common contributing factors are unfenced pools and human error, for example, people leaving the gate open or fences not being maintained.

It is the responsibility of the occupier to keep the pool fence in a state of good repair, and ensure all gates providing access to the swimming area are maintained so they are self-closing and self-latching. The occupier must also display a prescribed warning notice near the swimming pool, to show resuscitation techniques and a supervision warning.  Pool safety notices are available for a small fee from Wyong Shire Council.

Pool users and owners should be aware that if there is a death or injury in a pool, legal liability may fall on the person responsible for the pool at the time, even if a safety fence is installed.