‘I just burst into tears’: Nine in 10 public pool workers face threats, harassment and violence

1 month ago 16

Nine out of 10 public pool lifeguards and aquatic workers have been the target of threats and abuse at some time in their career.

And the situation is getting worse, says a new report cataloguing a tidal wave of abuse, harassment and violence at Australia’s 1300 public pools.

RJ Houston of Royal Life Saving Australia said new data from the past year put an estimate of 3500 incidents across Australia in the last 12 months, up from about 2500 a year earlier.

People cooling off at Ashfield Aquatic Centre on a hot summer’s day.

As the temperature rises, so does aggression, often to shocking levels, said Houston, who is general manager of capability and industry at RLSA.

“Only last weekend, a lifeguard was screamed at in her face by a customer whose child was denied access to a water slide,” he said.

“We’ve had a bunch of guys who crept up behind a lifeguard and kicked him, people have spat on lifeguards. It is all unacceptable,” Houston said. “We’re encouraging the public to keep their cool at the pool.”

At some pools, violence was so bad that facilities were temporarily closed.

“People are hot and bothered, they’ve got to get the kids out the door, there is a line and it is busy, then a lifeguard tells you off for being on the phone,” said Houston, describing a typical flare-up.

The new report, the National Aquatic Industry Workforce Report 2025, analysed incident data from a sample of 250 public aquatic facilities across every state and territory.

Across the sample in 2024-25, there were 445 recorded incidents of verbal abuse, 50 physical incidents and 185 harassment incidents (including sexual harassment).

Public pools are at their busiest during a heatwave.

Based on that sample, the research estimated that in the past year across all public pools, there were 2300 incidents of verbal abuse, close to 1000 harassment incidents, and more than 250 physical assaults or instances of aggression against aquatic staff.

The true scale of incidents was probably much larger because of under-reporting and other factors.

Many pool workers were young and worked part-time.

The Geelong Advertiser reported that a young shift supervisor, Lauren, was reduced to tears after a parent screamed at her and waved his hands in her face because his child was too short to go on the water slide.

Lauren told the Victorian regional paper that both she and a receptionist were verbally abused, forcing her to step back behind the counter to feel safe.

“My whole body was shaking, and it wasn’t until I got home and I told my partner about it, that I burst into tears,” she said.

The report found 25 per cent of those surveyed said they had repeatedly been the target of occupational violence and aggression, with 20 per cent saying it had reached an “alarming level”.