Published 26 August 2022

Royal Life Saving Society – Australia is asking all owners of backyard pools to check their pool fences and pool gates as a matter of urgency.

Children under five are curious and fearless, and their love of water puts them at risk of drowning.

Tragically, every year in Australia we lose on average 22 young children to drowning, more than half of those drowning in backyard swimming pools. The majority are aged just one year old.

We know that seven times the number of children who die go to hospital after a non-fatal drowning incident. That is more than 150 children aged under five each year, some of whom will be left with life-limiting disabilities.

While active supervision is the best protection against childhood drowning, no parent or caregiver can watch a young child 24 hours a day.

Ensure that you have a functioning and compliant pool fence and working gate as an additional barrier between young children and water for all those moments when life intervenes – the phone rings, the doorbell rings, another child needs your attention – can literally be life saving.

You can download a free home pool safety checklist.

This year, we’ve all experienced a lot more wet weather than usual. The La Niña conditions can wash away topsoil and weaken fences.

Check no fence posts have come loose from the ground. Make sure the gate is still self-closing and self-latching. Pack pool toys away so they are not an overwhelming temptation. It is also a good time to brush up on CPR ahead of summer.

By spending a bit of time checking the pool fence, pool gate and the area around the pool is secure, including no furniture or structures that little people can climb to access the pool, you could prevent a tragedy this summer.

Keep Watch and protect the littlest members of your family.

Eyes on the prize

Prepare for the unexpected. Always Keep Watch.

Kids will be kids. And we love them all. Cute, funny, quiet, wild, angelic, studious, all of them with their own unique personalities, all of them curious and unpredictable. One day avid explorers and princesses the next, with everything in between. Which is why we love them even more!

But they have one thing in common: Kids can’t help themselves around water, you need to.

Keep Watch to keep your child safe around water.