Port Fairy Community Pool Management and the Victorian Department of Education fined following 2021 child drowning

A Victorian County Court Judge has today advised that fines imposed for safety breaches surrounding the drowning of eight-year-old a year child on a school excursion are in no way reflective of the value of the young boy's life.

In the Warrnambool County Court today, Judge Claire Quin fined Port Fairy Community Pool Management - a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers - and the Victorian Department of Education for occupational health and safety breaches in relation to the child’s drowning in 2021.

With both parties having each pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Port Fairy Community Pool Management was fined $80,000 for failing to test the swimming abilities of children before allowing them to use an inflatable aquatic device similar to a jumping castle.

It also failed to provide the lifeguards on duty with information and instruction on how the inflatable device was to be used, who could use it, and how it should be supervised.

The Victorian Department of Education was fined $100,000 for failing to tell the pool operator about the children's swimming abilities despite collecting the information from parents.

Eight-year-old Cooper Onyett died on 21st May 2021 while on a school camp activity at the Belfast Aquatics Community Pool in Port Fairy.

Cooper was one of 28 year 2 students from Merrivale Primary School in Warrnambool who attended the pool on the day as part of a two-day camp.

Prior to the excursion, Cooper's mother had ticked a box on a school form indicating he was a beginner swimmer with little to no experience including in shallow water, but the Court heard this information was not passed on to the pool operators.

To find out the swimming capability of the students, soon after they arrived at the pool, the lifeguard in charge asked the children for a show of hands as to whether they could swim and had participated in swimming lessons.

Judge Claire Quin said asking children for this information was "unreliable" as they were likely eager to get onto the inflatable course.

The children were divided into two groups: the children who said they could swim were allowed onto the inflatable device, while those who could not stayed in the shallow end.

Soon 20 children had lined up to use the inflatable device, but by the time a few children went through the activity the lead lifeguard had decided to get in the water to help children including Cooper who were struggling to swim to the shallow end.

Only six students were assessed as being able to continue using the inflatable device and the remaining 22 were told to stay in the shallow end.

Later, a mother who was swimming with her child in the deep end saw Cooper floating underwater. She initially thought he was holding his breath but quickly realised something was wrong and yelled for help. The child was unable to be revived.

With the Court having heard a simple swimming test before allowing children to do a pool activity was considered industry practice, Judge Quin noted “it is also industry practice for operating procedures to be in place for features such as the aquatic device. These were not in place.”

Judge Quin became emotional during the sentencing hearing while referencing Cooper's mother's victim impact statement, stating "I don't think you can ever truly comprehend what it feels like for your heart and world to be shattered into a million pieces until it happens.

Judge Quin said she found the Port Fairy Community Pool Management's breach was serious and it created a significant risk of drowning.

She acknowledged the group had worked with WorkSafe Victoria and Life Saving Victoria since the tragedy to improve staffing levels, policies and procedures at the pool.

She also referenced the history of the Belfast Aquatics Community Pool, which was opened and run by a group of volunteers who have fundraised to keep the service going and said this context meant the fine imposed was significantly reduced.

Judge Quin said she also found the Department of Education's breach was serious.

Image: The Belfast Aquatics Community Pool (left) and Cooper Onyett.