According to Royal Life Saving, 39 Australians drowned in swimming pools in 2013-2014. That includes 14 kids under the age of five.

It’s a tragic loss. So despite the community messaging about pool safety more needs to be done to make our kids safe.

For a while now, pool owners have been required by law to make sure their pool is fitted with safety barriers.

Safety barriers

Safety barriers, such as pool fences, are required for any pool or spa with water that is deeper than 30cm. They need to be in place before you fill your pool with water.

In fact, the barrier needs to be up even during construction, in case the pool inadvertently fills up during a downpour.  So you might need to consider temporary fencing.

The Australian Standard (as of December 2014) that applies to pool fencing is designed to deny access to unsupervised children, so there are minimum standards that your fence must meet.

• The fence must be higher than 1.2 metres tall
• The gates only open outwardly
• The gates must snap close, automatically engaging the latch.
• Any existing fencing such as pickets or palings must meet a minimum height of 1.8 metres with a self-closing gate.

There are also some general regulations that apply to both old and new pools.

General regulations

The pool fencing must be:

• Well maintained, without gaps, holes or damage;
• Made of durable material;
• A minimum of 1.2m high when measured from the outside;
• Any boundary fence that makes up the pool fence must be at least 1.8m high;
• There should be no more than a 10cm gap between the bottom of the pool fencing and the ground;
• There should be no more than a 10cm gap between any panels or palings;
• The gate must open outwards (away from the pool area) and self-closing and self-latching;
• The latch for the gate must be mounted on the inside of the gate so that you have to reach over the gate to open it.
• If the latch is on the outside of the gate, it must be at least 1.5m high;
• There should be no climbable objects (such as trees, plants, BBQs, outdoor furniture, pot plants, pool pumps etc), within 90cm of the pool fence;
• Indoor pools must be fitted with a self closing, self latching door that opens outwards from the pool;
• A residential pool (including inflatable pools) or spa with a depth of 30cm or more is required to be surrounded by a safety barrier;
• The pool area on a property must be a separate, defined area with access not directly available from any other building including a house or outbuilding.

It’s a long list of regulations, and they can change from year to year. So before building your pool, check in with your local authority to make sure your pool meets Australian Standards.

Because your pool builder or designer needs to comply with the Australian Standard, you won’t be issued a certificate of final inspection until it meets the safety regulations – so make sure they are registered and licensed builders before you begin.

Have a chat about your options with a swimming pool contractor, and check out the range of swimming pool fences with a fencing expert.