Pool and spa owners: let’s make safety a priority together
Published on 16 September 2025
We’re working with local pool and spa owners to strengthen water safety across our community, helping protect the children who live, play and visit here.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, 15 children under the age of five drowned in Australia. Tragically, half of these deaths occurred in private swimming pools – preventable tragedies that devastate families and communities.
The State Government's pool safety regulations are designed to create safer communities by ensuring every pool and spa has compliant safety barriers. These barriers have been proven to save lives by preventing unsupervised access to water.
Currently, many safety certificates across the Peninsula are overdue. By acting now to ensure your pool or spa barriers are compliant and certified, you're contributing to a community-wide safety network protecting not just your own family, but visiting children, neighbours and anyone who might unexpectedly encounter water on your property.
We’ll soon be contacting property owners with overdue certificates via SMS to support you in taking this important safety step for our community.
To learn more about your obligations as a pool and spa owner click here.
Remember, compliant barriers work best alongside active adult supervision. Together, these measures help create the safest possible environment for children around water.
For more information on pool and safety compliance click here.
Or you can join us for a free drop-in info session hosted by our Community Resilience and Emergency Management team on 5 December. This session will focus on beach and water safety – perfect for residents, families, and short-term accommodation hosts.
For more information on child water safety visit Life Saving Victoria and Kidsafe Victoria.
Quotes attributable to Mayor Councillor Anthony Marsh:
“When we all make water safety a priority, we’re creating a community where every child has the best chance to be safe. Life is busy and sometimes compliance slips through the cracks, but acting now could save a life. The sooner your barriers are checked and certified, the safer your family, visitors and neighbours will be. The Shire is here to support you every step of the way so we can protect kids together.”