Belgravia Leisure has outperformed industry average safety scores across every jurisdiction assessed in Australia, with new independent assessment results highlighting the strength of the organisation’s aquatic safety systems, training and operational preparedness.
The results form part of Belgravia Leisure’s annual Pool Safety Assessment (PSA), Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment (AFSA), PoolSafeNZ and Mystery Guest Assessment programs, which evaluate critical areas including supervision, emergency preparedness, first aid, aquatic programs and operational compliance.
Across Australia, Belgravia Leisure exceeded industry benchmarks for overall safety performance in New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory, where safety scores all exceeded at least 93%. In New Zealand, the PoolSafeNZ assessment revealed an improvement in the number of issues identified, representing the strongest result achieved across the portfolio over the past four years.
New South Wales maintained strong performance with a compliance score of 96.95% and an overall safety score of 94.49%, significantly exceeding industry benchmarks. In Victoria, 19 venues achieved Gold safety endorsement from Life Saving Victoria (an increase from 11 in 24/25), six of which were Platinum endorsed. Victoria was also home to the highest scoring venue in the Belgravia Leisure network – Ascot Vale Leisure Centre – which achieved an outstanding 100% compliance score and a 99.89% safety score.
Particularly strong results were also recorded in Tasmania, where SWIRL and Splash Devonport both achieved perfect compliance scores and their highest results on record, with an overall safety score of 99.26%. Queensland delivered the largest year-on-year improvement, increasing compliance performance by 5.11% and overall safety performance by 4.03%, whilst over in South Australia, Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre became the first site in the state to achieve Platinum Pool Status.
Belgravia Leisure General Manager Health and Safety, Scott Vanderheyden, said the results reflected a sustained focus on training, preparation and supporting teams to continuously improve.
“The audit results speak for themselves, but the day-to-day focus on compliance, safety and risk management – as well as ongoing training and preparation in our venues – is what I am most proud of, as this is where compliance evolves into culture.
“No matter how strong the results are, however, our focus remains on continuous improvement. These assessments give us valuable insights into where we’re performing well and where we can strengthen further, ensuring our venues remain among the safest aquatic facilities in the industry.”
While the results were overwhelmingly positive, the assessments also identified opportunities to further strengthen specialist attraction management, qualifications and training controls, documentation processes and internal mystery guest participation. These findings will help inform targeted improvement initiatives during 2026/27. Vanderheyden said safety would continue to be a key operational focus across the organisation.
RJ Houston, Chief Operating Officer at Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, said Belgravia Leisure’s results reflected a strong commitment to leadership in aquatic safety and uplifting industry standards and commended them for their approach.
“Strong results in Royal Life Saving’s Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment program are earned through consistent practice, not a single tick-box activity. They reflect sound systems, capable and well-prepared teams, and a commitment to continual improvement.
“Belgravia Leisure’s sustained national performance shows what is possible when aquatic safety is embedded from the pool deck to the boardroom. It is a credit to the lifeguards, swim teachers, supervisors, venue leaders, executives and council partners whose collective effort helps create safer places for their communities to swim.”
To view or download the 2025/26 report, see below.
For more information on Belgravia Leisure’s commitment to safety, please visit Belgravia Leisure – Workplace Health & Safety.
