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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-09 Daily Xml
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SWIMMING POOL SAFETY

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Planning. Can the minister please inform the house about proposed changes to backyard swimming pool safety standards?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question. Last week, the President of the Local Government Association, Mayor Kym McHugh, joined with me to release a discussion paper aimed at improving swimming pool safety. I am advised that, on average, one child per year dies in South Australia as a result of drowning in a backyard pool.

That is one death per year that is completely avoidable. I am also advised that for every drowning death there are 14 emergency room admissions and four admissions for a stay in hospital as a result of the immersion. Of course, sadly, some of those children are permanently damaged by reason of that event. Pool drownings are one of the biggest causes of accidental death in children aged under five years.

The discussion paper released last week proposes consideration of the following measures: consolidating compliance options for pools; introduction of mandatory requirements for inspection via appropriately qualified inspectors and certification of compliance; a database of swimming pools; adequate council policies for swimming pool inspections; and many other measures. Fundamentally, the changes we are looking to make are about saving lives, and in particular very young lives.

We recognise that what we are looking at has an impact on families, business and local government, as well as on the state government. That is why I encourage the public, pool owners and councils to respond to the paper so that we can get this important reform right. The consultation is open until 31 May this year and it is my aim for changes, whatever they might be, to be in place in time for next summer. For more information, including the discussion paper, I invite anybody interested in doing so to go to sa.gov.au/planning/buildingconsultation.

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