By KATRINA BRANDON
Warning: the following story deals with the death of a child. Reader discretion is advised.
A MORWELL mother has called to action stricter pool fencing laws after tragedy struck her family in December last year.
On December 17, 2024, mother Rhiannon Egan-Lee went to boil the kettle while her four-year-old, Ivy Bella Roze, and her niece were playing less than 10 metres away. Ivy moved a panel off their fence to go into the neighbour’s pool where she drowned.
Now, Ms Egan-Lee is pushing for stronger laws and regulations for pools, starting a petition on change.org. “It was a beautiful sunny day and Ivy and I had only gotten home with her cousin 20 mins before the tragedy,” Ms Egan-Lee wrote on the petition.
“The girls finished their lunch and started to play between the lounge, the kitchen and the safety of our backyard. I picked up their rubbish and put it in the bin, flicked the kettle on, and made my coffee. Just a few minutes, right?
“Ivy lost her life after she innocently wandered into a neighbour’s yard through an inadequate boundary fence and drowned in their pool. This heart breaking incident has motivated me to advocate for a change in pool safety regulations in Victoria, Australia, to prevent such avoidable tragedies from happening to any other family.”
There are laws for swimming pool and spa owners/operators in Victoria, including registration, inspection and certification requirements.
Consumer Affairs Victoria also states that all swimming pools and spas capable of containing water to a depth greater than 30cm must have a compliant safety barrier to restrict access by young children (under the age of five).
These rules apply regardless of whether young children live at the property or visit the property.
The property that Ms Egan-Lee and her family resided in was a rental. During her time on the property, Ms Egan-Lee made multiple complaints about her faulty fence to her landlord.
For 10 years, the co-op board that owns Ms Egan-Lee’s house and the previous neighbours have argued over who is responsible for the boundary fence.
In January, the Express spoke to Ms Egan-Lee’s sister, Jade Collis, who stated that in 2024, the individual who had purchased the neighbouring property with the pool, before the event, was informed that the fence was compliant.
“The guy next door with the pool owns the house. He bought it last year (2024), and he was told by the real estate company that they had a copy of the pool compliance certificate, so he was told that the fencing had met all of the requirements,” Ms Collis said.
“It doesn’t meet one of them, but he was told it did. The co-op that owns the house that Rhiannon is renting had told Rhiannon, upon collecting the keys when she first moved in, that the fence needed replacing.
“The fence was also talked about at several of the monthly co-op meetings, and there were other people in co-op properties at those meetings saying they were having the same issue with fencing, and the manager said that it was a massive problem with all of the co-op properties in the area.”
Pool regulations require that pools be registered with the local council and have adequate fencing that is clear of any climbable objects that children could access. According to pool regulations, officials should never have ticked off the property pool.
On the pool side of the fence, there was no barrier on the property to prevent anyone from accessing the pool, and a garden bed was located about a metre away from the fence and the pool.
“Current laws regarding pool fencing are insufficient and put lives at risk,” Ms Egan-Lee wrote in the petition.
“Child safety around water is paramount, and it’s imperative that we implement stricter measures to ensure adequate protection. I propose that all private pools must be surrounded by four-sided isolating fencing, and the use of boundary fencing as a pool barrier be deemed illegal.
“Additionally, the availability of life-saving equipment is crucial in preventing fatalities from drowning. Therefore, I urge mandatory installation of defibrillators at all properties with private pools.
“To ensure compliance and accountability, pool safety inspections must be thorough and conducted by licensed inspectors. Severe penalties are necessary to enforce these laws; thus, I recommend imposing a $1 million fine or imprisonment for those who issue compliance certificates for non-compliant pools.
“These changes are essential for the safety of children and to honour the memory of Ivy Bella Roze, whose life was taken too soon. By signing this petition, we can urge the Victorian government to act and prioritise pool safety regulations. Help us turn this tragic loss into a catalyst for change and prevent future tragedies.”
For more information, go to: https://www.change.org/p/amend-victoria-s-pool-fencing-laws-for-ivy-bella-roze?
