A progress report by regulator Building and Energy has found that, while most Local Governments are progressing well with their inspections of private pool safety barriers, there is still room for improvement.
Under State laws, all private swimming pools, spas and portable pools with water more than 30 cm deep must have a safety barrier that complies with the law and restricts the access of young children.
In a statement, Building and Energy said on average, 15 children under the age of five drowned in private swimming pools in Australia each year.
“The number of non-fatal drownings is much higher and can also have long-term impacts on youngsters and their families,” the statement said.
“WA Local Governments are required to carry out compliance inspections of the safety barriers of private pools in their districts at least every four years,” it said.
Building and Energy said its Progress report: Local governments’ four yearly inspections of private swimming pool safety barriers 2020/21 revealed that at 30 June there were 2,673 overdue inspections.
“As a percentage, 1.6 per cent of pools were overdue for inspection, which is on par with the previous reporting period of 2018-19,” it said.
“Some 14 Local Authorities, all in regional WA, did not provide data.”
Building and Energy said Local Governments inspected the pool safety barriers at almost 46,500 private properties during 2020-21.
“More than half (57 per cent) of the authorities that provided data were up to date with their pool inspections at 30 June 2021,” it said.
“This is an improvement compared to 46 per cent in 2015, as reported by the Ombudsman, but a decline from 2018-19 when around two-thirds (67.5 per cent) of local authorities were up to date.”
Executive Director of Building and Energy, Saj Abdoolakhan acknowledged the challenges that Local Government pool barrier inspectors had faced over the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“However, there is still room for improvement, particularly for Local Governments with a significant number of overdue inspections and for those that have not provided data,” Mr Abdoolakhan said.
Building and Energy’s nine-page Progress Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
