Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Victorian Auditor-General’s Office

Regulating Private Pool and Spa Safety

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:09): I rise to commend the Regulating Private Pool and Spa Safety: February 2023 report and in doing so say that I know how important pool safety is. This report was produced by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office and examines council’s ability to implement private pool and spa safety barrier regulations. They specifically looked at the City of Greater Bendigo, Frankston City Council, Melton City Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and the Surf Coast Shire Council. They also surveyed all 79 Victorian councils. This report considers pool regulations and identifies the issues as well as providing recommendations to prevent young people from drowning.

I know how important pool safety is. Between January 2000 and May 2019, 27 young children lost their lives – tragically cut short in private pools and spas. In 20 of these cases the barrier did not meet the safety standards. As a former union official, I know the importance of OH&S, and as a dad, a father, I know this even more. Councils are responsible for implementing regulations to reduce the risk of this happening. At present safety barriers are the key to saving lives. Current regulations require pool owners in Victoria to have barriers that meet all the safety standards. The date of the pool’s construction determines which safety standard applies. Owners are expected to organise for an inspector to check if their barriers meet the safety standards every four years. When barriers meet safety standards, an inspector will issue a certificate for the owner to submit to council. For those who have barriers that do not meet the standard, an inspector can issue a non-compliance certificate to the council and give the owner a written notice to fix it.

The registration of pools is the Andrews government’s reform, so it is great to know that the government takes these matters seriously. The challenge for any new reform is not just creating the laws but getting everyone involved to recognise how important they are, to take them seriously and to do their part. And this is the challenge. This starts with pool owners: make sure you take the right steps to register your pool. Currently 13 per cent of pools, which equates to 26,068 pools, are unregistered. If you own a pool, there is no excuse for this. Get your pool registered. If you do not, then you risk a fine and you would only have yourself to blame.

This report also highlights that councils do not know if all pool barriers meet the safety standards, as there is a backlog of registrations and certifications and some councils are struggling to respond in a timely way. Some of these problems arise from councils not being provided with the correct information around construction dates or because the compliance certificate is incomplete. This backlog is easier to manage when councils are provided with the right documentation, so pool owners should make sure to take the extra time to provide the correct information when registering their pools.

Pool builders and building surveyors need to help their customers by explaining the requirements and making sure they provide the documentation required in a form that enables easy registration. Pool builders: where a previous customer is chasing you to get the information so they can register their pool, be helpful, because this is about saving lives. Any new program is challenging, and with pool registrations there are different challenges for existing pools and new pools, for which it is a more straightforward process. No doubt there may need to be some refinements in the program around registration, compliance and enforcement, which is why reports such as this one are so helpful in identifying the challenges and implementing an improved process.

But we cannot lose sight of what is at stake here – that is, saving lives. Twenty-seven young children drowning in 18 years is astounding, so it is now incumbent on everyone – the government, councils, pool owners and pool builders – to take note of the challenges in this report and work together to improve the process. I commend the work that our government has done to reduce drownings across the state, including the Unsinkable Guy campaign, which featured on TV, radio and digital and social media platforms to highlight several dangers that have led to drownings. I commend the work of the Minister for Emergency Services Jaclyn Symes, who has launched a new Victorian Water Safety Strategy, which aims to encourage people to safely enjoy activities in and around the water and to drive drownings down to zero. I thank the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office for their work.