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City of Wollongong
Resident Visitor Business

Pool and Spa Safety

If you own a pool or spa that can hold water and is 300mm deep or more, there are important laws you must follow to protect people in and around the pool.

Fines apply for not following the swimming pool laws.

Check that your swimming pool has the right swimming pool barrier for when it was built. All gates and doors providing access to your swimming pool area should be kept closed.  Never prop open a swimming pool gate.

You must keep trees, furniture and pot plants away from the swimming pool fence.

You must have a CPR sign near the swimming pool.

The following documents will help explain some of the laws to keep your swimming pool or spa areas safe:

All portable pools can be a drowning risk, even if they're less than 300mm high.

If your portable pool can hold more than 2,000 litres of water, you will need to get Council permission or approval and it will need to have an approved swimming pool fence.

Always empty your portable swimming pool as soon as you’ve finished with it, and store it away where children can’t reach it.

Children near a pool should always be supervised by a responsible adult. That means making sure you keep eye contact or hand contact at all times.

Leaving children unsupervised for even a moment can lead to a drowning.

Swimming lessons cannot ‘drown-proof’ a child. Don’t assume it’s okay to leave them – even briefly – just because they can swim.

This isn’t a legal requirement, but if you own a pool, you should learn how to perform resuscitation.

Royal Life Saving run resuscitation courses, or search for an accredited first-aid training provider to learn this life-saving skill.

You can also download Royal Life Saving's resuscitation chart below.

Royal Life Saving CPR chart  PDF, 47.24 KB

Self inspections

You must regularly inspect your swimming pool barrier and gate to make sure it’s safe. Use the self-assessment checklists on the NSW Swimming Pool Register website.

Inspections by Council

Council can inspect your swimming pool or spa at any time, however  it’s more likely if:

  • We receive a complaint about your pool
  • Your pool is considered to be high risk – for example, if it’s at a childcare business or foster care location
  • Your pool hasn’t been inspected before
  • You’ve applied for a pool certificate.

See our Pool Inspections page for more information about how Council inspects pools.

See Also