Australia says past use of asbestos has left a devastating legacy and wants to develop models for regulatory reform in neighbouring countries that still produce the material.
The facts, outlined in phase 3 (2024-30) of the country’s Asbestos National Strategic Plan (ANSP), reveal that despite imposing a complete ban on all forms of asbestos 20 years ago, more than 4,000 Australians die each year from related diseases. This makes it the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in Australia.
Deaths are still happening because the ban did not apply to asbestos containing materials (ACMs) already in situ.
As a result, two decades later, significant amounts of legacy ACMs remain in public and commercial buildings, homes and infrastructure. And in spite of improved asbestos management and removal over the last 35 years, rates of disease have not declined as expected, the plan says.
The problems surrounding ACMs, however, are not limited to legacy products in Australia. Tests at border controls in 2021 found the material in a number of imported goods, including remote control cars, building materials, engine gaskets, billiard table irons, and even new ferries destined for Sydney.
ACMs entering Australia unlawfully remain a risk, and will continue to do so until there is a worldwide ban on the production and trade, the plan says. However, progress is hindered by efforts from the industry and major exporting countries which block any regulation of their products.
A priority aim of phase 3 of the ANSP is to develop models for regulatory reform in target countries, specifically those in South-East Asia. Australia said its neighbours have large levels of chrysotile asbestos consumption, often coupled with poor work health and safety standards. It wants to use its influence to raise awareness of the hazards through its International Development Program for the Indo-Pacific.
By sharing technological solutions, and best practice for asbestos risk control and removal, the country hopes to achieve a 50% reduction in consumption in South-East Asia by 2030 – from a baseline of 175,000 tonnes in 2022.
But, despite aims to curb production abroad, Australia has yet to master the problem of asbestos waste in its own backyard.
The Australian government's "best current estimate" of the total quantity of this waste, including contaminated soil and rubble, was about 1,214,000 tonnes for 2022-23. Most comes from renovation and urban development and goes to landfill, it says.
Contaminated soil and mulch
Although asbestos is illegal in any product in Australia, it is finding its way into soil and mulch.
New South Wales and Queensland have recently both been hit with concerns over the use of contaminated soil and mulch, supplied to a number of public-access sites across the states.
Mulch contaminated with asbestos has been found at 75 sites across greater Sydney including parks, schools, hospitals, infrastructure projects and in a handful of suburban back yards. In Queensland, similar sites using landscaping materials have also been found to be contaminated with asbestos, albeit at very low concentrations.
Penny Sharpe, NSW’s environment minister, said in March that the discovery of asbestos in mulch "has led to the biggest investigation in the EPA’s history".
An investigation by the Guardian Australia newspaper brough the matter to light. Documents released through public access to information laws showed that NSW’s environmental regulator had known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants, such as asbestos and lead, into the community.
According to the Guardian Australia: "The regulator walked away from a proposal to tighten regulations in 2022, after it received pushback from the waste industry warning the policy changes would force up the cost of landfill disposal, drive more waste into landfill and force skip bin companies out of business."