Coronial
NSWhome

Fresco isabela

Deceased

Isabela Fresco

Demographics

1y, female

Date of death

2010-01-11

Finding date

2011-08-18

Cause of death

Drowning

AI-generated summary

Isabela Fresco, a 1-year-old girl, drowned in her backyard swimming pool on 10 January 2010 after gaining access through an unsecured gate with a broken, non-self-locking mechanism. The coroner found that while inadequate supervision was a contributing factor, the critical failure was non-compliant pool fencing. The pool, constructed in 1986, was exempted from contemporary safety standards under the Swimming Pools Act 1992 but had deteriorated and no longer provided effective barrier protection. The coroner found the death preventable if proper barrier fencing had been in place. Extensive recommendations were made for mandatory pool registration, periodic compliance inspection, certification requirements for property conveyancing, and increased awareness among property purchasers and legal professionals of pool safety obligations.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Contributing factors

  • Inadequate supervision of young child
  • Non-compliant pool fencing
  • Broken gate lock that was not self-locking
  • Failure to secure gate after use
  • Gap in pool fence allowing child access
  • Lack of swimming ability
  • Pool owner's lack of awareness of Swimming Pools Act requirements

Coroner's recommendations

  1. Swimming Pools Act 1992 be amended to require registration of all swimming pools with local government authority
  2. All swimming pools be brought into compliance with Australian Standard AS1926.1-2007 within specified period
  3. Pool owners provide periodic certificates of compliance to local government authority
  4. Right of entry for local government officers be extended to inspect properties to determine whether swimming pools exist
  5. Local government authorities be entitled to impose inspection fees to recover actual and incidental costs
  6. Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2010 be amended to require certificate of compliance with Swimming Pools Act as prescribed document for property sales
  7. Law Society of NSW bring to attention of members the warning concerning swimming pools and ensure specific attention is drawn to this warning for property purchasers
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