What is the fine for not having a fence around your pool?

Why the two states have drifted so far apart

This is the most interesting thing about pool penalties in Australia and it is almost never written down. The two states have not made different judgements about how serious an unfenced pool is. They have made different judgements about indexation.

New South Wales sets a penalty unit at $110 under section 17 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, and that figure has not moved since 8 December 1999. There is no automatic indexation mechanism; it stays at $110 until Parliament legislates otherwise. Queensland indexes its penalty unit every year under section 5A of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992, and on 1 July 2026 it rose 3.5% to $172.70.

So a NSW maximum of 50 penalty units is worth what 50 penalty units were worth in 1999, and a Queensland maximum of 165 penalty units is worth what 165 units are worth this financial year, and will be worth more next July. The gap is not a policy position about child safety. It is twenty-seven years of inflation applied in one state and not the other.

The practical reading for a pool owner: do not plan around the dollar figure in Queensland, because it moves. Plan around the penalty units, and multiply by the current value.

What actually triggers the fine

The offence is not “having no fence”. In New South Wales, section 7 requires that the pool is at all times surrounded by a child-resistant barrier that separates it from any residential building on the premises and from any adjoining place, designed, constructed, installed and maintained to the prescribed standard. Every word there is load-bearing.

“At all times” means the obligation does not pause for a party, a renovation or a delivery. A gate wedged open while the lawn is mown is a non-compliant barrier for the duration.

“Maintained” means a barrier that was compliant when built can become an offence without anyone touching it. Ground settles and opens a gap under the fence. A gate's posts spread and it stops self-latching. A shrub grows into the non-climbable zone.

“Separates it from any residential building” is the one that catches renovations. A new deck, a new door, a new pergola can each convert a compliant barrier into a non-compliant one, and nobody sends a notice when it happens.

The items an inspector measures are listed in what a pool safety inspector checks, and most of them can be checked with a tape measure before anyone official arrives.

The cost that is not the fine

Treat the penalty as the smallest number in this situation.

A sale stops. In New South Wales a certificate of compliance, or a certificate of non-compliance, must be attached to the contract. In Queensland a pool safety certificate is required to sell or lease. A barrier that fails does not produce a fine on Tuesday; it produces a delayed settlement, a nervous buyer and a price conversation.

A tenancy stops. Leasing triggers the same requirement as selling in both states, and in Queensland the obligation attaches to each new tenancy.

The rectification is the real bill. A gate latch is inexpensive. A boundary fence that has to be raised to 1800mm, or a retaining wall that has created a climbable zone, is a construction job. We set out what a failure typically costs to put right in what happens when a pool fails the barrier inspection.

And the reason for all of it sits outside the fee schedule entirely. The barrier is not a compliance artefact. It is the thing standing between a toddler and water, which is why the obligation is continuous rather than periodic.

What to do if you think your barrier would fail

Today, at no cost: walk the barrier with a tape measure. Fence at least 1200mm from finished ground level. No gap under it greater than 100mm. Nothing climbable within 900mm of the outside of the fence — pot plants, taps, barbecues, furniture, a coiled hose on a bracket. The gate self-closing and self-latching from any position, including from resting against the latch.

This week: fix whatever was free to fix. Moving the pot plants and the outdoor setting resolves a surprising share of failures, and costs nothing.

Before you book an inspection: deal with the structural items. Raising a fence, replacing a gate or rebuilding a section is what the time goes on, and doing it before the inspection converts a re-inspection fee into a single visit.

When we are not the answer: if a council has already issued you a notice with a date on it, that date governs and this page does not. Speak to the council officer named on the notice — they can usually tell you precisely what failed, which is more useful than any general guidance.

For the structural items, get the work priced properly rather than accepting the first number. What a pool fence costs in Australia sets out the ranges for aluminium and frameless glass, and quotes are free.

Common questions

Sources

• Swimming Pools Act 1992 (NSW)
• Brisbane City Council — Pool regulations
• Queensland Law Society — Penalty unit increases to $172.70
• Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), s 17 — Penalty units

General information only, current at 2026-09-12. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.