Australia is a nation built around the water. Beaches, rivers, creeks, backyard pools, water parks, even bathtubs at home. For children, water is a source of joy, adventure, and discovery. It is also one of the most serious safety risks they face in their early years.
Drowning is consistently identified by Royal Life Saving Australia as one of the leading causes of accidental death for children under five. Unlike many childhood hazards, drowning is largely preventable. The factors that protect children are well understood: active supervision, physical barriers, water confidence and swimming ability, and CPR readiness in the adults around them. Aquabliss has been building water-safe, water-confident children across NSW since 2002. Here is what every parent needs to know.
Give Your Child the Gift of Water Safety Aquabliss offers programs for babies from 6 months through to adults. Enrol now at your nearest NSW location. |
Why Australian Children Are at Risk
Geography and lifestyle place Australian families in frequent contact with water. Backyard swimming pools are common across NSW. Waterways, creeks, and beaches are part of everyday recreation. This proximity is one of the things that makes Australian childhoods so rich, and it is also what makes water safety education so critical.
The Royal Life Saving Australia National Drowning Report documents annual drowning deaths and near-drownings across the country. The findings, consistently across years, point to several key patterns:
- Children under five are among the most vulnerable age group for drowning in Australia
- Home swimming pools are a primary location for drowning incidents involving young children
- Bathtubs and nappy baths are significant drowning sites for children under two
- A lapse in supervision is identified as a contributing factor in the overwhelming majority of child drowning incidents
- Swimming ability and water confidence significantly reduce drowning risk
Understanding these patterns is not about creating fear. It is about directing attention toward the prevention measures that are most likely to make a difference.
Layer 1: Supervision is Your Most Important Tool
No fence, no alarm, and no swimming lesson removes the need for active, dedicated supervision when children are in or around water. Supervision means different things at different ages, but one principle applies across all of them: the supervising adult must be close enough and focused enough to intervene within seconds.
Touch supervision for young children
For children under five, and for any child who cannot yet swim independently, Royal Life Saving Australia recommends touch supervision: being within arm’s reach at all times. Not across the pool. Not looking at a phone from the deck. Within arm’s reach.
A child can submerge silently and lose consciousness within a very short time. The gap between a brief distraction and a drowning incident is smaller than most parents imagine.
The Water Watcher role
At gatherings where multiple adults are present, the responsibility for supervision can become diffused, with each adult assuming someone else is watching the water. Designating a specific, rotating Water Watcher at any event involving water prevents this. The Water Watcher has no other role during their designated period. They do not socialise, eat, or use their phone. When their rotation ends, they hand over to the next adult explicitly.
| 💡 At social gatherings: At barbecues and parties, drowning risk increases when multiple adults are present because each person assumes someone else is watching. Designate a Water Watcher before guests arrive and rotate the responsibility explicitly. Children’s parties near pools or water require the same discipline. |
Layer 2: Physical Barriers
Pool fencing is legally required for all residential swimming pools in NSW, and for good reason. A compliant four-sided pool fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate creates a physical barrier that gives a young child time to be noticed and retrieved before accessing the water unsupervised.
Under NSW law (Swimming Pools Act 1992), all swimming pools used by young children must be surrounded by a compliant pool safety barrier. Fences must meet specific height and construction requirements, and gates must be self-latching and unable to be opened by young children.
- Check your pool fence regularly. Hinges loosen. Latches wear. Gates get propped open.
- Never prop the pool gate open, even briefly
- Remove climbable objects near pool fencing, such as garden furniture, pot plants, and toys
- Pool alarms (surface alarms and gate alarms) provide an additional layer but are not a substitute for fencing and supervision
| ⚠️ Fence compliance: A pool fence that does not fully comply with NSW requirements may provide a false sense of security. If you are unsure whether your fence is compliant, contact your local council for an inspection. Non-compliant pool fencing carries significant legal penalties and, more importantly, does not protect your child. |
Layer 3: Swimming Ability and Water Confidence
Physical barriers and supervision protect children from accessing water unsupervised. Swimming ability and water confidence protect children when they are in the water. These two layers of protection work together, and neither is a substitute for the other.
Research supports the conclusion that formal swimming lessons significantly reduce drowning risk for young children. Children who have received swim instruction show lower rates of drowning in several major studies. The protective effect is not binary (“can swim” versus “cannot swim”) but progressive: a child who can float, roll to their back, and tread water is meaningfully safer than one who panics immediately on entering the water.
Aquabliss programs are structured around this understanding. The Babies program introduces water confidence, submersion, and basic floating skills from as young as six months. The Pre-Schoolers program builds on this foundation with a three-level ability-based curriculum that develops water confidence, floating, and introduces freestyle and backstroke. The Kids Learn to Swim program progresses children toward independent swimming with correct technique across three ability levels.
Teaching since 2002, Aquabliss has given thousands of NSW families greater peace of mind around water. Every teacher holds nationally recognised qualifications from Swim Australia or AustSwim, is first aid trained, and has a current Working with Children Check.
Layer 4: CPR Knowledge in Adults
When a drowning incident does occur, the speed and quality of the response by adults at the scene is often the determining factor in the outcome. Bystander CPR, applied correctly before emergency services arrive, can save a life.
Every parent, grandparent, carer, and older sibling who spends time around water with children should be trained in CPR appropriate for infants and children. Online and in-person CPR courses are available across NSW, including through St John Ambulance and the Australian Red Cross. Refresher training every one to two years is recommended, as CPR skills degrade without practice.
Royal Life Saving Australia’s website (royallifesaving.com.au) provides guidance on finding CPR training near you and accessing the current National Drowning Report.
Layer 5: Establishing Water Safety Rules at Home
Clear, consistent water safety rules, established early and enforced every time, build the habits that protect children in the long run. Rules that are enforced only some of the time are not effective. Suggested family water safety rules:
- No child enters the pool without an adult present and actively watching
- All pool gate rules apply even when a parent is in the garden
- Children ask permission before approaching any water, including buckets, ponds, and bathtubs
- No running on pool decks
- Life jackets or personal flotation devices are worn on boats and around open waterways
| 💡 Open water is different: Backyard pools are the primary risk environment for young children, but open water carries its own hazards including currents, depth changes, and poor visibility. Teach children that rivers, creeks, dams, and the ocean require different awareness and that they must never swim in open water without adult supervision and knowledge of conditions. |
Starting the Swim Journey Early
The earlier a child begins learning to swim, the more natural the water becomes to them. This does not mean pushing a child beyond their comfort. It means creating positive, progressive experiences in a safe pool environment with skilled teachers who understand that water confidence and swimming ability grow together. Aquabliss accepts enrolments from six months of age. Classes run year-round, including school holidays, with no need to wait for a new term.
For a quick assessment of where your child sits in their swimming journey, Aquabliss offers free swimming assessments at its NSW locations: Gregory Hills, Mittagong, Pymble, Seven Hills, Thornton, and Willowdale.
Book a Free Assessment at Your Nearest Aquabliss Find out where your child sits in their swimming journey. Free assessments available at all NSW locations. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Aquabliss welcomes babies from six months of age. Early introduction to water builds confidence, familiarity, and basic safety responses from a very young age. The Babies program focuses on water comfort, submersion, and basic floating skills in a warm, secure environment with a parent present.
Multiple research studies have found that formal swimming instruction significantly reduces drowning risk in young children. The protective effect grows with swimming ability: a child who can float, roll to their back, and propel themselves toward safety has meaningfully more protection than one with no water skills at all. Lessons are not a substitute for supervision and fencing, but they are a critically important additional layer of protection.
Remove the child from the water as quickly as possible. Call 000 immediately. If the child is unresponsive and not breathing, begin CPR. Do not delay CPR to wait for emergency services. Royal Life Saving Australia’s website provides guidance on infant and child CPR technique.
For young children, home backyard pools are associated with a higher proportion of drowning incidents than public pools, primarily because the supervision standards and physical barriers at public facilities are typically more consistent. This is not an argument against having a home pool, but it is a strong argument for rigorous fencing, consistent supervision practices, and early swimming lessons.