Older pools in Queensland and today's pool safety standard

Queensland's current pool laws reached existing pools on 1 December 2010, when owners were given five years to meet the new standard, and the deadline was 1 December 2015. The Queensland Government now says its pool safety laws apply to all new and existing pools, with one standard, MP 3.4. An older barrier can still have small repairs made to the standard it already has, but a replacement must meet the current standard, and so must a barrier when the property is sold or leased. Only a licensed pool safety inspector decides whether a barrier meets the standard.Source: Queensland Family and Child Commission, Swimming pool immersions of young children in Queensland, 2011-2021, and the Queensland Government pool fences and barriers page (updated 21 Nov 2019, reviewed 27 Jun 2024), read 5 Nov 2026.

The dates

• 1991. The Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) says swimming pool fencing laws were first introduced in Queensland in 1991, that the laws were complex, and that different standards applied depending on the age of the pool. Its 2024-25 report says there were no standards before 1991.
• 1 December 2009. After a review in late 2008, the first stage of reforms to the Building Act 1975 started on 1 December 2009 and required all new pools built on or after that date to have fencing that meets Queensland Development Code Mandatory Part 3.4 (MP 3.4).
• 1 December 2010. Stage 2 extended the first stage to existing pools, with owners given five years to meet the new pool safety standard. The QFCC says pool registration, a final inspection after construction and the licensing of pool safety inspectors came with the reforms, and that a pool safety certificate became required before a property is sold or leased.
• 1 December 2015. A Queensland Parliament answer of October 2015 refers to the 1 December 2015 deadline and says local councils would be responsible for policing pool fencing from then.

One detail to be aware of: the government media statement of 13 October 2015 says owners had until 1 December in one sentence and to make sure their pools meet the rules by 30 November in another. A parliamentary answer to a question asked the next day uses 1 December 2015, so we do too.

What changed for older pools

Three-sided fencing

The QFCC says three-sided fencing, where the building itself gives direct access from the house to the pool area, had been permitted for pools built before February 1991 and was phased out by the 2010 reforms. If a door or window opens straight onto your pool area, see doors, windows and balconies.

Fewer local exceptions

The QFCC says the 2010 reforms reduced the ability of councils to make local laws about, and to grant exemptions to, pool fencing requirements. Exemptions still exist in the Building Act, for disability and for impracticality: pool fence exemptions in Queensland.

One standard

The Queensland Government's pool safety laws page says the laws apply to all new and existing pools and that there is one pool safety standard in Queensland, MP 3.4, Swimming pool barriers. It says MP 3.4 replaced 11 different standards in 2015. The QFCC says the pool safety standard was introduced in 2010. We do not know why the two differ, so each is given as the source puts it.

What an older barrier needs now

• The Queensland Government says a pool fence or barrier must be well maintained at all times and that damage must be repaired immediately.
• It says a small repair, for example to palings, hinges or latches, may be made to the same standard as the existing barrier.
• It says new replacement fences or barriers must meet the current standard, and that if you are selling or leasing the property the barrier must meet the current standard.
• If a barrier does not meet the standard, it says you must obtain a nonconformity notice from a licensed pool safety inspector, and the barrier must then be re-inspected by the same inspector within three months.

The failures the Queensland Government lists are the same for an old fence and a new one: gates that are not self-closing and self-latching from all points, a barrier lower than 1200 mm, climbable rails on a boundary fence, windows that open by more than 100 mm, and climbable objects near the fence. See common pool fence problems and the pool safety checklist.

What the sources do not say

The Queensland Government's pool safety laws page does not carry this history, so the dates above come from the QFCC's paper and from two 2015 government documents. We found no list of older fence designs that are still acceptable, and we have not invented one. If you own an older pool, a licensed pool safety inspector is the person to ask. They can look at your barrier and tell you what a certificate would need.

How this page was made: the PoolPreCert team read each page listed under Sources on 5 November 2026 and wrote this in plain words. The dates beside each source are the dates those pages show. PoolPreCert is not part of QBCC or the Queensland Government, and only a licensed pool safety inspector decides whether a pool meets the standard.