The latest Royal Life Saving NSW Industry Report details findings from 90 NSW aquatic facilities that undertook the Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment (AFSA) in 2020-21.

The extensive lockdowns and Public Health Orders over the past 12 months had a significant impact on the delivery of AFSA’s across NSW, with assessment numbers dropping 40% since the start of the pandemic.

The overall mean compliance across New South Wales has remained consistent over the past 4 years, with mean compliance of 83%, highlighting the need for additional focus from aquatic facilities for improvement.

Highest performing sections in 2020-21: Supervision – pool (90.95%), lap and lane pools (89.79%) and first aid (89.29%).

Lowest performing sections 2020-21: Technical operations gases (63.69%), dive pools (69.98%) and keep watch at public pools (78.47%) - (Ref Pg13).

Illawarra Region (92%) reported the highest level of compliance whilst the Northern Region (70%) reported the lowest level of compliance. Individual venues’ Compliance Scores ranged from as low as 29% to as high as 98% across New South Wales (Ref Pg14).

Facilities assessed annually outperformed those assessed less frequently by 23% for an overall safety score.

Contact Nicholas Au (nicholasau@royalnsw.com.au) | Aquatic Risk Services Manager for further information and to book in your AFSA, or visit AquaticSafetyServices (drowningprevention.org.au)