Pool Register planned for New South Wales
The New South Wales Government has issued a discussion paper regarding a number of potential new safety measures including the creation of a state-wide swimming pool register, mandatory inspection of pool barriers at any property with a pool at the point of lease or sale, and a pool inspection regime run by councils, including for tourist and visitor accommodation and other multi-occupancy developments.
Queensland and Western Australia have already adopted the practice of having a pool register.
If you want to make a comment about the proposals, read the discussion paper and forward your submission to:
By email:
By post:
Swimming Pools Act Review
Division of Local Government
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Locked Bag 3015
NOWRA NSW 2541
The closing date for submissions is February 24.
Below are the key items for discussion:
Proposed Amendments regarding the Swimming Pool Register
The Government is considering amendments to the Swimming Pools Act that:
1. Require the NSW Government to develop and maintain an on-line, State-wide register of swimming pools, through the Division of Local Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, containing certain prescribed information about the pool including (but not limited to) address, type of pool, date of construction/installation as well as date of any inspection and result.
2. Require that each swimming pool owner register their swimming pool via the on-line, State-based register at no cost using a standard form approved under the Swimming Pools Regulation 2008 (the Regulation). This includes swimming pools that form part of a tourist and visitor accommodation complex, and other multi-occupancy developments such as strata and company titles including town house and unit complexes. This would be a once-only registration process. Pool owners would be provided with the alternative of requesting that their local council complete the on-line registration process on their behalf using a standard form completed by the pool owner, at a cost of no more than $10.
3. Require that, as part of the registration process, pool owners undertake a ‘self certification’ process of their pool by completing a safety checklist and a statement that, to the best of their knowledge, the barrier complies with the standard required by the Act at the time the pool was built. Pool owners would be provided with the option of requesting that their local council or a private certifier undertake the certification process on their behalf for a prescribed, maximum fee for local councils and at market cost for private certifiers.
4. Establish a new offence for failing to register a swimming pool attracting a penalty notice amount of $220, with a maximum penalty of $2,200, with a transitional period of twelve months so that there is sufficient time for pool owners to be notified of the requirement to register the pool.
Swimming Pool Barrier Inspection Program
The Government is also considering amendments to the Swimming Pools Act that:
5. Require that councils, in consultation with their communities, develop and publish on their websites a swimming pool barrier inspection policy and program that is acceptable and affordable to their community.
6. Require mandatory inspection by councils of pools associated with tourist and visitor accommodation and other multi-occupancy developments at a period of no greater than 3 years for the same inspection fees outlined in 8 below.
7. Require that any property with a swimming pool must be inspected, and have a valid compliance certificate issued under the Swimming Pools Regulation 2008, before the property is leased or sold (parallel amendments to conveyancing, residential tenancy and land use planning legislation may also be required). The compliance certificate would be valid for a period of 2 years, even if the property is sold or leased again in the interim.
8. Provide that councils may charge an inspection fee for each inspection undertaken to reflect the actual cost of the inspection to a maximum of $150 for the initial inspection and to a maximum of $100 for one additional re-inspection, should it be necessary as a result of the initial inspection. It is further proposed that no additional inspection fees could be charged for any subsequent re-inspections.
9. Require councils to report annually on the number of swimming pool inspections undertaken and the level of compliance with the requirements of the Act.
Other Proposed Act Amendments
The Government is also considering amendments to the Swimming Pools Act that:
10. Include a provision to clarify that, where an existing swimming pool that is exempt from the Act’s fencing requirements is fenced voluntarily, such fencing must meet the Act’s requirements for a compliant, four-sided barrier. This would effectively ‘disapply’ or remove the exemption.
11. Clarify and make consistent with the Local Government Act 1993 council powers of entry under the Swimming Pools Act to inspect private swimming pool barriers.
12. Amend the definition of ‘swimming pool’ in section 3 of the Act by replacing the words ‘300 mm or more’ with ‘greater than 300 mm’ to increase national uniformity.
13. Replace the term ‘hotel or a motel’ with ‘tourist and visitor accommodation’ wherever occurring in the Act to increase consistency with other legislation.
Proposed Commencement and Information for Swimming Pool Owner
14. With the exception of proposed Amendment 4, which provides for a 12 month transition period before commencement of the new offence for failing to register a swimming pool, a commencement period of 6 months is proposed for the other new provisions. During this period strategies will be implemented to ensure all swimming pool owners are provided with information on their responsibilities to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Swimming Pools Act.
