By Julie Power
Australia’s 2103 public pools are buckling under pressure with too few facilities in growing areas, ageing infrastructure blowing council budgets, long waits for swimming lessons and more than 2400 reports of violence directed at lifeguards.
Far from the old days when the country fancied itself as a nation of swimmers, new analysis by Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA) finds access to pools has become less equitable, particularly in outer metropolitan and regional areas that feel the heat.
Aiden and Hermione Kumar and Sophia Acosta play after their swimming lessons at Blacktown Leisure Centre. Credit: Janie Barrett
RLSSA general manager of capability and industry RJ Houston said more than 6 million Australians are more than a 10-minute drive from a public pool, 1.8 million are more than 20 minutes away, and these numbers would worsen.
Pool distribution and numbers were worse in the growing outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.
Blacktown has five pools for 435,000 people – one for every 80,000 residents. That’s about four times the average number using Lane Cove pool in Sydney, and five to six times the national average. In North Kellyville and Box Hill, the council needs a new pool, and most people live a long way from the closest facility.
Many people most at risk of drowning – migrants, young families and others who most needed affordable lessons – were missing swimming lessons.
“Not having a local pool that’s accessible is a problem,” Houston said. “It also pushes additional pressure on other aquatic facilities 20 minutes or further away. Often there are excessive wait lists for swimming lessons, and we’ve identified abuse and harassment of people like lifeguards who work there.
“In some places, they’re buckling under the demand.”
RLSSA chief executive Dr Justin Scarr said: “More than 500 pools need much love, refurbishment or a rebuild, and many more growing communities simply need a pool.”
The federal government has committed close to $300 million for new aquatic projects in the past year. Scarr said this was welcome but the shortfall for the next decade or two was billions.
“Clearly, we need a nationally co-ordinated strategic investment plan across all layers of government to boost access to community pools before it is too late.”
There were 2450 incidents of abuse, violence or aggression directed at pool staff or lifeguards. There were also 8000 rescues by lifeguards in 2023, with a three-fold increase in the number during school swimming carnivals, suggesting swimming skills declined during COVID.
At some pools, security guards had been employed on days above 28 degrees. Scott Vanderheyden, acting group manager, health and safety with the Belgravia Health & Leisure Group which manages about 200 pools, said occupational violence and aggression was more reported than in the past, but it had also become more prevalent.
“It will lead to a point where we struggle to recruit staff,” Vanderheyden said.
RLSSA’s list of communities where most people had to drive more than 10 minutes included Kurrajong Heights and Ebenezer in the Hawkesbury LGA, Cherrybrook, where most people had to drive to Hornsby, and Raymond Terrace. It includes beachside Sydney suburbs Avalon, Palm Beach and Mona Vale, which have a wealth of ocean baths but fewer year-round accessible public pools.
New pools are expensive beyond the capacity of most councils. One in four councils are already in financial trouble, the report said.
Blacktown Mayor Brad Bunting and the Hills District Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne are lobbying the NSW government to let councils use developer levies meant for essential infrastructure to fund public pools.
“While such amenities are valuable, diverting funds to them would place additional strain on our rate base – something council strongly opposes, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis,” Byrne said.
Bunting said his LGA was an infrastructure desert. Rising temperatures and increased apartment living in western Sydney was driving higher demand for pools and recreation spaces, yet it remained unfairly underfunded compared to other parts of Sydney.
“Right now, we have just five swimming centres for a city of 435,000 people. That’s simply not enough. How many people can you realistically fit in a pool? … We want the NSW government to fix this, so our people can get the same facilities that residents in the eastern suburbs and north shore already enjoy.”
Pool to people averages
- Capital cities: 1 aquatic facility per 19,353 population
- Regional cities: 1 aquatic facility per 12,327 population
- National average (including regional): 1 aquatic facility per 12,826 population.
Source: Royal Life Saving Society Australia State of Australian Aquatic Facilities 2025
Parents from Marsden Park whose children were doing after-school swimming lessons at the Blacktown Leisure Centre said on Thursday that it could take an hour to get there and back, and that was in good traffic.
With three children doing swimming lessons on different days, Mandeep Kumar, a shift worker, said it took commitment and time, and he sometimes had take a day off or change his roster to get them to lessons. Willyam Acosta said the area needed more pools, but ratepayers couldn’t afford more.
A spokesperson for Hawkesbury council said pools were expensive to maintain and build. As the council with the biggest area and the smallest population in greater Sydney, it was not feasible to provide pools within a 10-minute drive, especially in isolated areas. It was increasing capacity at existing swimming centres.
Gosford’s pool is also showing its age. A council spokesperson was aware of the ageing pool and was developing a plan to provide long-term direction for facilities that reflect the current and future needs of the community. It welcomed “grants and funding from both state and federal governments to support infrastructure projects”.
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