2023-02-04
The ACT Government is introducing regulatory reforms that will require all barriers on home swimming pools to be compliant with modern safety standards.
“In the ACT, the home swimming pool is the most common location for drowning death and injury for children under the age of five,” Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti said.
“While supervision is still the best way to monitor a child’s safety in the water, pool barriers are a vital safety measure to help restrict children’s unwanted access to backyard pools and spas.
“While national pool barrier standards for new home swimming pools have strengthened over time, we know that some pools in the ACT, particularly pools installed prior to 2010, do not meet current pool safety standards, which can result in serious injuries or backyard tragedies.
“At the moment, pools in the ACT only need to comply with safety standards from when the pool was constructed or significantly altered. Bringing all pools and spas up to modern safety standards will greatly reduce the risk of people drowning or suffering serious injury."
As part of the ACT Government’s new swimming pool safety improvement strategy, reforms will:
- require all home swimming pool barriers to comply with modern safety standards (such as barrier location, strength, height, gate accessibility, and more);
- require ongoing maintenance of home swimming pools and barriers with an associated penalty for non-compliance;
- require disclosure of a pool’s compliance status when the property is sold or leased; and
- establish a compliance framework to support enforcement of the above.
The reforms will apply to all home swimming pools and spa pools that are capable of containing water to a depth greater than 30cm.
“While we anticipate the reforms will commence in late 2023, we want to make the process easy for community and industry, so will be offering a transition period to ease the pressure on property owners to comply with the prescribed safety standards,” Minister Vassarotti said.
“We are asking the community to help finalise the reforms, including how long the transition period should be, through a short questionnaire on the YourSay website. Supporting information is provided in a consultation paper and factsheets.
“We are all responsible for safety around pools, so I encourage all Canberrans, not just pool owners, to complete the questionnaire.”
To find out more and take the questionnaire, visit the YourSay website.