Twenty-six children under the age of five died in Australia as a result of drowning last year, up 30 per cent on the previous year. Pool safety was highlighted last weekend when a three-year-old boy drowned in an above-ground pool in Riverwood and the near drowning of a two-year-old boy in Camden South. A report on pool safety commissioned by Local Government Minister Paul Toole​ last year has just been delivered to his department. Mr Toole called for the report, written by former NSW Treasury secretary Michael Lambert, after industry bodies encouraged a regulatory review "due to the high-level of non-compliance for backyard pool barriers". The report spells out the need to simplify complex backyard pool legislation but also suggests major changes in how temporary pools can be sold and used.

It cites statistics from the NSW Child Death Review Team showing that between 2007 and 2014 nearly a fifth of drownings (19 per cent) occurred in above-ground portable pools and that all those pools were unfenced. The overall numbers are small – 10 people – but the tragedy of those deaths is immense. Concerns raised about temporary pools in the report include: They don't require a DA if their capacity is less than 2000 litres so there is no need for a certifying authority to check there is a compliant fence.

They can be bought second-hand or online, warning signs aren't prominent and "there is evidence both purchasers and retail outlets don't understand the legal requirements involved".

The cost and effort of adding a pool fence acts as a "distinct disincentive to pool fencing". The report suggests portable pools would have to be registered at the point of sale, and fencing inspected, certified and registered before the pool is used. A portable pool would also have a large warning sign printed on the bottom setting out the legal installation requirements.

It may also mean that portable pools could be sold only by outlets selling conforming pool fencing. A spokesman for Mr Toole said: ​"The NSW government is committed to improving child safety and reducing the number of drowning deaths in backyard pools. Any child drowning is one too many." Michael Ilinsky, the NSW operations manager for the Royal Life Saving Society, said the issue of portable and inflatable pools had been an ongoing concern. "The retail sector has a key role and responsibility to play," he said. "At the point of sale there needs to be more information available for the purchaser so that they are aware of what is required. If they purchase a pool and fill it to that 30-centimetre level they do have a legal responsibility to build fencing. "We have all become complacent about backyard swimming pools. There almost needs to be a new definition of what is an inflatable or portable pool. A $59.99 purchase of a pool is in fact a greater financial purchase because it will entail the purchasing of a fence to protect the young child.

"The familiar retailers who are importing these products, providing them on their shelves and are happy to sell them are not passing on all the information that is needed to protect a young child." Robert Guthrie, president of the Swimming Pool and Spa Association and a pool certifier, said he thought the public was confused by the changing legislation on how to make a pool safe. "We have now got eBay to recognise that when portable pools are sold they must carry a notice that they require a fence," he said. "There are various warnings on the packing and on the pool but to state that the pool requires a fence is not a requirement. I think it probably should be. "We want pools to be enjoyed but we want them to be safe."

Provisions that require a property with a swimming pool to have a certificate of compliance before it can be sold or leased will commence on April 29 after being postponed. The delay was to give pool owners more time to ensure swimming pool-barrier compliance prior to the sale or lease of their property Baby steps: teaching water survival skills Danica Sarno only took her eyes off her son Enzo for a second before the curious toddler crawled through a dog flap in the door and towards her friend's plunge pool. Thankfully, she pulled him from the metre-deep pool just in time. "After that he was so scared of the water – even just me and him, he'd scream his head off," Ms Sarno said.

Two days later she called Kids Aquatic Survival School and enrolled Enzo in swim survival classes. "A lot of swim schools will teach kids to grab onto the swim instructor's shirt or the side of the pool. But what happens if they fall in and there's no one there for the child to swim to or the edge of the pool is too high?" said Rachelle Beesley, owner of the South Sydney survival swim school. She and her husband Richard's philosophy is that before young kids learn to swim in water, they must learn to survive. Their methods teach young children to kick to the side if they can or to roll onto their backs and float in the water for as long as it takes to be rescued. "We place [kids] in a position that allows them to figure out, if they fell into any body of water – a river or lake even – what to do in that scenario and how to get out of that situation," Mr Beesley said. "It pushes them out of their comfort zones."

Learning which builds up kids as young as six months to being submerged underwater and left to roll over themselves or kick to safety may seem harsh. But the Beesleys say a bit of tough love is necessary to build up water survival skills and confidence. "It's the same as immunising a child or putting them in a car seat," Mrs Beesley said. "They may not like it but if it's for their own good to save their life – most parents don't mind it." Loading Rebecca Kilcran, whose 13-month-old daughter Lily does the lessons, said that even though she is vigilant about watching her children in the pool, she "just needs that peace of mind that if she got in without me knowing she'd be OK". Fact file

26 children under the age of five died in Australia as a result of drowning last year, up 30 per cent on the previous year.

More than half (54 per cent) of the deaths happened in backyard swimming pools. A further nine children aged five to 14 drowned.

New South Wales recorded the most drowning deaths in all types of waters at 100. ​Source: Royal Life Saving National Drowning ­Report