Grievance Debate

Strathmont Pool

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:08): I rise today to speak against the closure of the Strathmont hydrotherapy swimming pool in Oakden, in my electorate of Torrens. This pool is used extensively by around 1,500 children and adults for swimming lessons and hydrotherapy, including children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual and physical disabilities; new migrants from landlocked states, often challenged by fear of water; young babies; and some more senior members of our community requiring hydrotherapy.

I have received representation from providers and many families who access the pool on a weekly basis. They have written to me, spoken to me out in the community and met with me in my office. A local resident, Tania, has written, telling me how the closure of the pool will affect her family and, in particular, her young son Billy. She said:

We live in Oakden. Strathmont is our local pool both for Billy and my daughter, Laura, who swims every Saturday with Swim Safe Swim School. My son (Billy) is 13 years of age. He has severe autism, is non-verbal, and has an intellectual disability. From 9 years of age, Billy also developed the co-morbidity of epilepsy.

As a chid with autism, he has a strong fascination and affinity with water. Therefore, Billy needs to be safe in the water. He needs to be able to know how to do basic strokes, tread water, get to the edge, listen to the instructor, get out if he needs to…

Billy and his class mates travel via Mini bus to the Strathmont pool. The mini-bus is funded by all the parents at a significant cost each ($150 each term)…for a short journey. What would be the additional cost of an even longer journey?

The [Strathmont] pool's temperature is consistently regulated throughout the year. This means that Billy can swim even in the Winter months. One of the side-effects of Billy's Epilepsy…is that he cannot control his body temperature when he becomes cold. Therefore, swims at any other centre cannot last [long enough for him].

Moving to an existing hydrotherapy pool is not the answer. Other pools such as the nearby Hampstead Pool is very shallow. Here Billy cannot use a deep end to practise critical water safety and immersion in the water—this is also part of his sensory profile.

To close Strathmont means that someone must be displaced. A suggestion made to me was for the Repat Hospital at Daw Park. This is over an hour away. If Billy gets stuck in traffic on a bus, and the sun is coming through the window, he is at risk of having a seizure from over-heating.

Billy's grandfather Robert, too, contacted me and said that it seems that Human Services has no feelings or humanity towards understanding the needs of those very special people like his grandson. A Dernancourt resident, Andrew, who has three children participating in programs at the pool asks:

How can you do this to someone who provides an essential service to the community? If the pool is closed the ripples will flow through the community, diminishing the opportunity and ability of future generations.

I ask the minister and the Premier: what price is put on the lives and the quality of the lives of those people who access Strathmont swimming pool—those with a disability; both young children and those more advanced in their years; also the new arrivals from landlocked states for whom learning to swim can be a challenging ordeal; and the impact it will have on other users of hydrotherapy facilities that are already at or near capacity by trying to make room for the soon to be displaced people?

It is a documented fact that we need more, not fewer, swimming pools for rehabilitation for those with a disability who benefit through water therapy, and for those who form part of our ageing population, to assist them in keeping mobile and in their home. The benefits far outweigh the costs socially and economically.

On behalf of the users of the Strathmont swimming pool and other pools that would be negatively impacted, I ask the Marshall Liberal government to reconsider their decision to close the Strathmont swimming pool, for the benefit of those who are using it already.