Infantpooldrowningfindings dscmacmahon30april2010
Finding date
2010-04-30
Cause of death
drowning
AI-generated summary
This joint inquest examined eight deaths of children aged 14 months to 3 years who drowned in home swimming pools in NSW between June 2006 and January 2009. The coroner concluded all deaths were preventable. Contributing factors included inadequate parental supervision, non-compliant pool fencing, gates left propped open, and systematic failures in local government pool regulation. Specific issues identified: exemptions for pools on properties over 5 acres; lack of centralised pool registration; inadequate compliance oversight by local government authorities; inadequate landlord responsibility in rental properties; and insufficient point-of-sale warnings for above-ground pools. The coroner made thirteen recommendations including media campaigns emphasizing supervision and maintenance, establishment of a centralised pool register, amendment of legislation to remove property-size exemptions, legal obligations on landlords to ensure pool safety compliance, and consideration of a new criminal offence for negligence in pool maintenance analogous to negligent driving causing death.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Inadequate parental supervision
- Non-compliant barrier fencing
- Pool gates propped open
- Poorly maintained pool safety barriers
- Gaps in local government regulation and oversight
- Lack of centralised pool registration
- Inadequate landlord responsibility in rental properties
- Insufficient warnings to purchasers of above-ground pools
- Exemptions for pools on properties exceeding 5 acres
- Incomplete or absent pool fencing at time of filling
Coroner's recommendations
- Continuing media campaign to emphasise need for constant supervision of young children who are or reside in vicinity of home swimming pools
- Media campaign on obtaining council approval for construction and installation of all home swimming pools
- Media campaign on regular maintenance of fencing and gates surrounding pools and ensuring gates are never propped open
- Development of centralised register of private swimming pools in NSW
- Development of systematic plan for regular review of all private swimming pools to ensure compliance with Swimming Pools Act 1992
- Amendment of Swimming Pools Act 1992 to remove all exemptions from application of that Act
- Owners of residential properties containing private swimming pools subject to residential tenancy agreements obliged to ensure pool compliance with safety provisions
- Landlords to warrant at commencement of tenancy agreement that pool and fencing comply with safety provisions of Swimming Pools Act 1992
- Systems developed to ensure purchasers of above-ground swimming pools are advised at point of sale of their obligations under Swimming Pools Act 1992
- Sellers of above-ground swimming pools to advise relevant local government authority of delivery of pool to property
- Consideration of enactment of criminal offence analogous to negligent driving causing death to apply where person dies as result of negligence regarding maintenance or use of private swimming pool
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