Queensland pool safety laws no good without proper prosecution

QUEENSLAND has enacted some of the toughest pool laws to protect our kids from tragedy. But advocates say they’re not being followed through.

• Aerial drones to enforce laws
• Shipping container pools a thing

HUNDREDS of pool owners have escaped fines despite not complying with new safety rules, sparking calls for tougher penalties.

The legislation, which came into effect in a year ago, resulted in a single statewide pool safety standard to be enforced by local councils.

The new rules included fully fenced pool enclosures, child-proof latches and restrictions of climbable objects near pool fences.

But The Sunday Mail can reveal that since the new laws came into effect in December 2015, there have been only 27 fines handed out by the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan,
Townsville and Ipswich councils, despite at least 324 non-compliant pool owners being given enforcement notices.

Most fines were because of non-compliant fences. Moreton Bay, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Sunshine Coast councils did not issue any fines, but handed out hundreds of enforcement notices.

Four children have drowned in Queensland pools since August this year, according to pool safety group Hannah’s Foundation.

Under Queensland laws a sign with instructions for CPR must be displayed in pool areas.

Andrew Plint, who launched the foundation with his wife Katherine after their two-year-old daughter drowned in 2007, said young lives were still at risk and stricter enforcement of penalties would snap pool owners out of complacency.

“Penalties are few and far between, so there is no deterrent,” he told The Sunday Mail.

“Ultimately the price of non-compliance is far greater than just a penalty.

“It’s a great source of frustration. There certainly needs to be more education done but there needs to be some consequences.”

Mr Plint said councils needed to impose more penalties and use the revenue for better education about pool safety.

Mr Plint, who also works as a private pool safety inspector, called for a cyclic inspection regimen “like you would service your car”.

Royal Life Saving Queensland director Michael Darben said giving people the opportunity to become compliant was “more important than slapping fines on them in the first place. If they ignore the warning, then a fine is warranted.”

Mr Darben, and several Queensland councils, said pool owners leaving gates propped open and climbable furniture nearby were the biggest cause of non-compliance.

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission, which keeps a database of registered backyard pools and monitors compliance, said drowning was a leading cause of death in Queensland for children under the age of five.

The recent Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report 2016 found that 11 children up to four years of age had drowned in Australian swimming pools in 2015-16.

Originally published as Queensland pool safety laws no good without proper prosecution