Sign up for safety: pool owners fail to register Newcastle toddler, Sophie Hughes, 2, having a fun time in her pool / Picture: Peter Lorimer. TENS of thousands of NSW families are putting their children's lives at risk by failing to register their swimming pools. Up to 60,000 homes across the state are yet to register their pools despite last month's deadline and threats of a $220 fine for people who don't sign up. Royal Life Saving Society NSW chief executive David Macallister said yesterday swimming pools accounted for more than 60 per cent of all drowning deaths last year for children aged 0-4. Thirty-one children in that age group drowned in Australia last financial year, up almost 50 per cent on the previous year. ``But what people need to understand is that for every one drowning in that age group, we get another three near-drownings where the end result will probably be some form of brain damage to that child," he said. ``A drowning leaves a tremendous amount of trauma and emotional stress on a family and the community, but to be honest the near-drownings are as bad because those kids will need care for the rest of their lives. Mr Macallister said some people appeared to be concerned that a swimming pool register was a ``big brother" strategy that would cost them money in order to comply with safety guidelines and council pool inspections. ``It's unfortunate that they are thinking like that because if they do have to upgrade their pool, they're doing it for safety reasons and that could save a life," he said. Meejung and Dean Hughes said they were surprised how strict some of the guidelines were when they recently had their Newcastle home's new pool certified for safety. But Ms Hughes said it provided peace of mind - both for when her two-year-old daughter, Sophie, was swimming, and for if visitors came with their children. ``If there is no one home and someone does come over there's no way that any unsupervised young child can get in and drown," she said. A spokesman for Local Government Minister Don Page said that while any unregistered pools were a concern, a higher proportion of homes had signed up in NSW than in Queensland when a similar scheme was introduced there in 2011. ``It's about trying to strike the balance between safety and practicality for pool owners," he said. ``Obviously you can't be too onerous but if there is something that can be done to protect the lives of children we need to do it.