Active supervision is one of the simplest and most important ways families can keep children safe around water. Across WA, aquatic facilities play a vital role in making sure that message doesn’t stop at the front door.

Mount Barker Memorial Swimming Pool, Shire of Plantagenet, and Armadale Fitness & Aquatic Centre, City of Armadale, have been named the 2026 Regional and Metropolitan Watch Around Water Facilities of the Year at the WA Aquatic & Recreation Industry Awards.

The awards recognise facilities demonstrating outstanding leadership in promoting water safety through the Watch Around Water program and helping families create safer aquatic environments for young children. The category was presented by Alissa Lim from event Platinum Sponsor Jonas Leisure.

Regional Winner – Mount Barker Memorial Swimming Pool

Mount Barker Memorial Swimming Pool has demonstrated that being a smaller regional facility doesn’t limit the impact you can have on water safety.

Each year, the facility hosts a Watch Around Water Fun Day immediately before the summer school holidays, typically attracting between 30 and 80 children. Free entry, inflatables, activities, prizes and even a visit from Santa help bring families through the gates, while supervision and water safety remain firmly at the centre of the day.

Watch Around Water messaging is also embedded throughout the facility. Signage begins in the carpark and continues through the entrance, social media reinforces supervision messages and regular PA announcements provide timely reminders to patrons.

The team isn’t afraid to get a little more targeted either. Watch Around Water banners can be strategically moved closer to patrons who may need a supervision reminder, while staff are empowered to actively enforce supervision requirements. Watch Around Water is also a key part of new staff inductions.

It is a practical, community-focused approach that has helped embed active supervision within the culture of the facility and its community.

Metropolitan Winner – Armadale Fitness & Aquatic Centre

At Armadale Fitness & Aquatic Centre (AFAC), Watch Around Water has become a whole-of-centre commitment involving lifeguards, customer service, swim school and other teams.

Its annual Watch Around Water Week brings water safety education to life through CPR and first aid activities, rope throw challenges, quizzes, competitions and mascot appearances. In 2025, the week recorded 21,339 facility visits, with 146 staff participating across the event.

AFAC has also introduced a $3.50 entry fee for adults supervising children under six in the water, helping remove a financial barrier while providing another opportunity to reinforce active supervision at the point of entry.

Its Water Safety Leadership Program has taken that commitment further, creating dedicated staff leadership roles focused on programs and culture, campaigns, education and training. One initiative, Supervision Star, recorded 404 positive Watch Around Water interactions with patrons and families over five months by recognising people demonstrating great supervision behaviours.

The results are encouraging: AFAC reported aquatic rescues declining from 37 in 2023 to 31 in 2025, despite overall attendance increasing by 8.04 per cent over the same period.

Together, Mount Barker and Armadale show how Watch Around Water can be brought to life in very different facility environments – from a regional community pool to one of metropolitan Perth’s major aquatic centres.

LIWA Aquatics congratulates Mount Barker Memorial Swimming Pool and Armadale Fitness & Aquatic Centre on being named the 2026 Regional and Metropolitan Watch Around Water Facilities of the Year.