New water safety initiatives

The state government has announced new initiatives to increase water safety at home, including the introduction of barrier inspections and a statewide database of all household pools and spas.

The REIV – along with other industry experts including Life Saving Victoria, SPASA, and Kidsafe – has long called for barrier inspections and we are pleased to see the Government has included them as part of its new approach.

Under the new requirements property owners would need to register their pool or spa with the local council for inclusion in the database, and declare that their safety barriers are compliant, effective and in good working order.

The state government has deferred consideration of building regulations that would require owners to upgrade pool and spa barriers to 2010 standards regardless of when the pool was constructed.

At present, all pools constructed on or after May 1, 2010 require four-sided isolation barriers while pools constructed before April 30, 2010 permit child-resistant window and door sets.

The REIV does not support mandatory four-sided barriers on all pools, as the vast majority of pools built pre-2010 cannot accommodate a fourth barrier due to proximity to the house. In addition, there is no evidence to suggest four-sided barriers reduce toddler drownings. Such a requirement would impose significant and pointless expense on many home owners, particularly on older Victorians still residing in the family home.

The new inspection regime should remedy issues with faulty or degraded catches and latches, which have proven to be the weakest links in most pool and spa barriers.

If the Victorian experience mirrors that of Western Australia, where barrier inspections have been compulsory for more than 25 years, lives of infants and toddlers will be saved. More recently, both NSW and Queensland have also introduced barrier inspections.

The changes are expected to be introduced into Parliament in June, with the new register and self-assessment tool expected to be in place before next summer.

For more information on pool and spa safety, visit kidsafe.com.au.