‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ Backyard Pool Safety Campaign

When it comes to backyard pool safety, the best offence is a good defence

Despite significant reductions in toddler drowning deaths over time, drowning continues to be one of the leading causes of accidental death for Australian children under 5 years of age. Statistics from the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia’s National Drowning Report show that in 2018/19, 19 Australian children aged 0-4 years drowned. The majority of these drowning incidents (63%) occurred in swimming pools.

While pool and spa barriers can be effective in reducing the risk of drowning incidents, evidence suggests that a large number of drowning deaths are the result of barriers that are faulty, or non-compliant with Australian standards.

Kidsafe’s ‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ campaign urges all pool and spa owners to check their barriers and set their backyard pool defence at the beginning of daylight saving on Sunday 6th October 2019. The campaign features a series of humorous skits with parents employing an over the top defence and celebrations while playing backyard sporting games with their children, to remind families that when it comes to backyard pool safety, ‘the best offence is a good defence’.

The 2019/20 ‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ campaign is proudly supported by:

For more information and to access the campaign resources, including home pool safety self-assessment checklists, please click on the links below and the menu items to the left.

Resources

Victorian Building Authority pool and spa safety barrier self-assessment checklists 

‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ A3 Poster’Safe Barriers Save Lives’ A3 Poster

‘Safe Barriers Save Lives’ DL flyer checklist

Translated versions of the DL flyer can be downloaded via the following links: Arabic, Dari, Hindi, Chinese and Vietnamese.           

Campaign Partners