Education department charged over boy’s school-camp drowning

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WorkSafe has charged Victoria’s Education Department with failing to do everything it could have to ensure the safety of an eight-year-old boy who drowned in a public pool while on a school camp two years ago.

Cooper Onyett, a year 2 student at Merrivale Primary School in Warrnambool, drowned at a Port Fairy swimming pool during his first overnight school camp in May 2021.

Cooper Onyett, centre, with his mother Skye Meinen and older brother. Cooper drowned at Port Fairy in 2021.

The management of Belfast Aquatics Community Pool and Fitness Centre has also been charged, WorkSafe announced on Friday.

The statutory authority alleges that the pool “failed to test the swimming ability of the students before allowing them to use an inflatable obstacle course, have currently qualified lifeguards on duty and instruct lifeguards on the safe use of the inflatable”.

The department has been charged with a breach of the Operational Health and Safety Act, for “failing to ensure that children on the camp were not exposed to risks arising from the conduct of the employer”.

Victoria’s coroner is also investigating Cooper’s death.

The Education Department and Belfast Aquatics have both been contacted for comment.

Cooper’s funeral was limited to a small family gathering because of restrictions on public gatherings during one of the state’s COVID-19 lockdowns.

The family appealed for an exemption at the time but was denied.

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