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                    Watch Around Water - Child supervision

                    Watch Around Water (WAW) is a child supervision policy that all City Of Melbourne pools have adopted.

                    This policy is in place in order to assist educating our customers about active supervision of children in and around the water, and encouraging parents / guardians to take on the responsibility of this role while visiting aquatic facilities.

                    This policy has been adopted by the vast majority of public swimming pools within Victoria.

                    Watch Around Water’s aim is to reduce the number of fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents and associated injuries in public aquatic facilities in Victoria within the 0-12 year age group.

                    The mandatory requirements of Watch Around Water are as follows:

                    1. Children aged under 5 years:

                    • must be accompanied into the centre and the water by a responsible person aged 17 years or older
                    • must stay within arm’s reach whilst in the water, generally the responsible person will need to be in the water themselves
                    • must wear a pink wristband identifying them as being aged under five years.
                    • The responsible person cannot exceed a supervision ratio of two children under five years

                    2. Children aged between 5 and 12 years:

                    • Must be accompanied into the centre by a responsible person aged 17 years or older
                    • Must be constantly and actively supervised
                    • Must wear a yellow wristband identifying them as aged between five and 12 years
                    • The responsible supervising person must position themselves to have a clear view of the child with no physical or structural barriers between them and the child / children
                    • The responsible person cannot exceed a supervision ratio of four children under 12 years

                    3. Children aged 12 years and over:

                    • Parents/guardians must use their knowledge of an individual child’s swimming ability and general development to determine the level of accompaniment required

                    4. Children of any age:

                    • Children of any age will be removed from the water if the lifeguard believes they are unsafe.

                    Links to the Watch Around Water child supervision policy in the following languages are available:

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