73592

Royal Life Saving Society - Australia has expressed its fears that as many as 500 public swimming pools will close within 10 years without significant and sustained investment.

Building on its past studies, new research from Royal Life Saving estimates that 68% of community swimming pools are aged over 50 years, and that $8 billion is needed to refurbish, upgrade, or rebuild them.

Explaining the critical state of the nation's aquatic facilities RJ Houston, Royal Life Saving’s General Manager - Capability & Industry advised “it is much more than rusted and broken pipes, cracks in pool tiles, and porous concrete, many older pools are leaking significant amounts of water, leading to increased costs, environmental damage and concerns about water quality and safety.”

Local government shoulders the greatest burden, many are now unable to meet the upgrade costs without financial assistance from State and Federal governments.

Royal Life Saving research highlights:

• The average Australian public pool was built in 1968
• 500 (40%) of public pools will reach the end of their functional lifespan by 2030
• $8 billion is needed to replace those 500 aging public pools
• A further $3 billion will be needed to replace facilities ending their lifespan by 2035
• Pools generate $9.1 billion annually in social, health, and economic benefits
• There are over 333 million visits to public pools each year

It notes that many community pools are facing multiple threats - changing demographics, lack of local government resources, increasing energy and building costs, as well as the impacts of a changing climate.

With local governments contributing 64% of all funding for aquatic facilities, Houston is aware that regional councils are particularly vulnerable and often face the dilemma of pool closures.

Houston adds “without a more structured approach to swimming pool investment, more children will miss out on swimming lessons, communities won’t have a safe place to swim laps or cool off during summer, and many will be forced to swim in rivers, and lakes.”

Houston also notes that with a complex web of grant programs, securing funds is more challenging for those in regional and outer metropolitan areas.

Communities are often paralysed by competing agendas - laps versus lessons, families versus the needs of an ageing population. The system creates winners and losers.

This lack of a cohesive framework opens the door to suboptimal decision-making, depriving some communities of access to safe swimming facilities and essential water safety skills.

Advocating Royal Life Saving’s call for a strategic, long-term solution, Houston goes on to say “the benefits of public pools are clear, and decisive leadership is needed. There is a strong case for an investment fund dedicated to aquatic facility upgrades and new builds. Public funds should be allocated to function over form and aim to ensure communities maximise health and social benefits.”

Regional and metropolitan community needs analysis are needed to forecast the short, medium, and long terms needs. Funds should be made available for feasibility and planning stages to ensure that projects are shovel ready, carefully considered and in line with community needs.

Royal Life Saving proposes five principles for investment in swimming pool infrastructure:

• Provide funds to support regional and metropolitan area gap analysis
• Provide funds to support feasibility and fit-for-purpose studies early in process
• Target and plan funding for refurbishments and new builds in growing areas
• Prioritise functionality and community need over aesthetics and interest groups
• Link development funds to established health and social indicators

For more information on this topic.

State of Aquatic Facility Infrastructure Report (2022) 

Health, Social and Economic Value of the National Aquatic Industry (2021) 

The Social Impact of the National Aquatic Industry (2021) 

Equal Access to Public Aquatic Facilities (2022) 

Economic Benefits of Australia’s Public Aquatic Facilities (2017)

Remote Pools - A review of Swimming Pools in Remote Areas of the Northern Territory 

Images: Emptied and abandoned pool (top, credit Shutterstock)

Related Articles

28th February 2024 - Aquatic Industry event highlights achievements of drowning prevention campaigns

8th February 2024 - Aquatic and recreation industry workforce should take advantage of free mental health elearning program

6th February 2024 - Royal Life Saving National Aquatics Symposium looks to strengthen the aquatic industry

3rd February 2024 - Temporary closure of Hobart Aquatic Centre for critical pool repairs

1st February 2024 - City of Sydney’s Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton Pool to close for critical works

12th January 2024 - CERM Performance Indicators releases latest operational management benchmarking report for aquatic and recreation centres

20th December 2023 - Release of latest industry guidelines aimed at increasing safety in aquatic facilities

18th December 2023 - Royal Life Saving flags safe and budget-friendly swimming at local public pools during holiday season

7th December 2023 - Revitalised Eagleby Aquatic Centre reopens for Logan residents

1st December 2023 - Royal Life Saving highlights opportunities for facilities through Community Energy Upgrade Fund Program

13th January 2023 - World Aquatics concerned about swimming pool closures and restrictions

15th December 2022 - New report reveals state of Victoria’s aquatic industry

2nd November 2022 - Royal Life Saving report shows up to 40% of Australia’s pools may need substantial upgrade or replacement by 2030

21st September 2022 - East Maitland Aquatic Centre to close for remainder of 2022 due to structural damage

1st July 2022 - City of Canterbury Bankstown to sacrifice ageing Wran Leisure Centre

4th September 2019 - ‘Confidentiality’ shrouds plans for future of ageing Adelaide Aquatic Centre

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.