One of my swim school parents recently told me of their intention to stop their 6-year old’s swim lessons as they believed that their child was now “water safe”. When pressed as to what exactly they meant by “water safe”, the parent explained that her son had been taking swim lessons for 3 years, and could now swim 25m unassisted and float on their back, and was aware of basic water safety information. Moreover, the little boy had said to his parent that he wanted to start sailing lessons instead. Discontinuation of...

The provision of an adequate barrier around a swimming pool is critical component of child drowning prevention. While constant supervision of a young child around water is imperative, as any parent knows this is sometimes unachievable, and the installation of a standards-compliant pool fence represents another layer of protection that can assist in reducing the probability of a child becoming yet another drowning statistic. While nearly 40% of homes in Qld enjoy the luxury of a pool in the backyard, it is estimated that at least 50% of these swimming pool fences are either inadequate or non-compliant with the established standards. Why is compliance so important? Over 40% of under 5 drowning deaths occur as a direct result of the child gaining access to the pool via a defective pool gate or fence. Child pool drowning statistics include those directly attributable to carelessly placed climbable objects such as outdoor furniture and pot plants which are a significant risk from the standpoint of young children being able to access a swimming pool area....