Earlier this week I attended the Local Government NSW conference in Albury NSW, along with our General Manager, the Premier of NSW, NSW Ministers and Shadow Ministers, and representatives from all NSW councils.

This is the main policy-making event for local government and covers a wide range of issues from new technologies to provide services more efficiently, to councillors’ legal responsibilities.

Hundreds of motions are voted on at these conferences – there were many regarding access to drought relief, as well as crown land management, planning policy and development consents, waste management and the EPA Waste Levy, funding levels, libraries, police numbers, Rural Fire Service funding and many more.

Pools in NSW

The conference is also a valuable opportunity to network with other councils about the emerging issues.

A big one this week being the Royal Lifesaving Society’s Keep Watch @ Public Pools program.

Council’s pools in Scone, Merriwa and Murrurundi are partners in this program, as are 180 facilities in NSW.

The Keep Watch program asks that parents (or other adult carers) supervise children up to the age of 14 years, not just to decrease the chance of drowning but to keep children safe more generally.

The Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse identified sport and recreation environments as one of the areas where there was a risk of grooming where there is a lack of supervision, including in change rooms.

Subsequently there are changes happening in many areas of junior sport to make sure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

The Upper Hunter Shire was not exempt from the testimony of the Royal Commission.

I realise that many parents have become used to their 13 and 14 year olds being able to go to the pool unattended in the past, and are very unhappy at this development.

Council is continuing to discuss the issue and is looking at ways to make it easier for parents.

Ultimately though, there must be lessons learned by institutions such as councils.

We provide the pools and have legal obligations to do all we can to keep children safe at them.