Australian swimming pool drownings double
The latest Drowning Report has been released by Royal Life Saving (RLS), showing a concerning increase in deaths by drowning in swimming pools of 95 per cent over the previous year.
Also of concern is the increase in one of the key target areas – the children under five category.
In all, 291 people drowned in Australia over the 2012/2013 period, compared to 276 over the previous corresponding period (adjusted down from the published figure of 286). This represents an increase of five per cent over the year.
However, 43 people drowned in swimming pools compared with 22 in the previous period – a dramatic increase of almost double from eight per cent of the total to 15 per cent.
Under five drownings up
A great deal of energy has been expended by industry, regulators, legislators and the community in attempting to curb the drowning deaths of children under five years of age.
Sadly, those efforts have not borne fruit in this period and the number of under-fives drowning has jumped to 31 – an increase of 48 per cent over the previous period.
Significantly for the industry, swimming pool drownings accounted for 61 per cent of all drowning deaths of children under five. An absence of supervision was identified in 94 per cent of cases.
Of all the drownings occurring in swimming pools, 44 per cent were of children under five.
This category had been targeted by Australian Water Safety Strategy with a decrease to a maximum of 17 drowning deaths per year by 2020. Last year’s figure of eight deaths had seemed positive as the numbers had been declining. However, the jump this year to 31 has reversed that positive trend.
Drowning of children aged five to 14 is seen as still on track, with nine deaths this period and a target of a maximum of eight by 2020.
In response to the continually high numbers of children under five drowning in home swimming pools, some States and Territories in Australia have, in recent years, enhanced legislation and moved towards increased enforcement around swimming pool fencing and other safety considerations.
In the past 10 years, 67 children under the age of five have drowned in backyard swimming pools in New South Wales. To improve child safety and reduce the number of children drowning in backyard pools, the NSW government has recently enacted new legislation that promotes the regular maintenance of pool barriers whilst ensuring those barriers comply with the applicable barrier safety standards.
From October 29, 2013, all swimming pool owners in New South Wales are required to register their backyard swimming pools in an online register provided by the NSW State Government. The register provides pool owners with pool safety checklists and Be Pool Safe resources to help them self-assess their pool’s safety. Pool owners will be asked to indicate, to the best of their knowledge, if their swimming pool complies with the Standard applicable to their pool based on the age of the pool or property type.
Across Australia
Drowning deaths between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013 in all categories were (by State):
• New South Wales: 104
• Queensland: 64
• Western Australia: 46
• Victoria: 41
• South Australia: 14
• Northern Territory: 9
• Tasmania: 9
• Australian Capital Territory: 4
There will be more information in the printed December issue of SPLASH!.
Download the full National Drowning Report 2013.
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