In response to the Royal Commission’s findings, in 2019 the Australian Government developed the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (National Principles). These principles were subsequently endorsed by all state and territory governments. Several states have legislated the principles as standards that organisations that provide services to children, must legally comply with.

The production of this section of the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations has been a result of the NAIC (National Aquatic Industry Committee) that is represented by over 20 organisations, councils and legal representatives throughout Australia to provide input and guidance in their respective areas of expertise.

This Guideline provides practical guidance for owners or operators of aquatic facilities in relation to measures needed to protect children and young people from abuse and/or related harm as a result of participation and/or attendance:

• In an aquatic facility

• In programs and/or services delivered by an aquatic facility or at an aquatic facility

• In programs and/or services delivered by a third-party organisation in association with an aquatic facility

• In formal aquatic programs and/or services delivered by a person or organisation outside of an aquatic facility

Consultation is now open for Industry feedback to the Draft guidelines Version 3 of Child Safety in Aquatic Facilities.

The full Draft version of the Guidelines can be viewed here:

To view the draft guideline, head to the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations section of the Royal Life Saving Society - Australia website: https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/subscribers/GSPO/child-safety

To provide feedback on the guideline, please return feedback by way of the provided form to: aquatics@rlssa.org.au