This Progress Report highlights that the importance of cooperation to eliminate asbestos risks from our built environment. Working collaboratively with industry, employer and employee representatives, disease support groups and independent experts is critical to achieving the ambitious goals of the National Strategic Plan.

The aim of this study was to identify the current products and practices in use for containing and stabilising asbestos either to assist in the removal of asbestos-containing materials or to maintain the asbestos-containing materials in-situ. 

Trace amounts of asbestos have been detected in some brands of children’s crayons that have been imported into Australia. 

There is generally a lack of knowledge and awareness in the community about asbestos identification and its safe management in residential settings. The amount and condition of in situ asbestos containing materials remaining in Western Australian housing stock is not known. Therefore, the Western Australia Department of Health aimed to develop and validate a mobile application (‘app’) that can be used by householders, tradespeople and environmental health officers to screen the home for the presence of in situ asbestos.

Water supply pipelines installed throughout Western Australia in the 1960s and 1970s were coated in a bituminous material containing asbestos and other contaminants. In 2016, Western Australia Water Corporation launched a project to collect, treat and dispose of significant quantities of the asbestos coal tar coated pipes and manage impacts from the pipes that had been removed from the network and stored throughout the State.

As asbestos cement roofs deteriorate, they release asbestos fibres into the environment. Asbestos cement roofs can cause considerable contamination as a result of fires, non-compliant removal practices, and illegal dumping. This case study investigated the barriers to the safe removal of asbestos containing materials from Government, commercial and residential properties and develop policy options to support the removal of asbestos in poor condition.

On 31 December 2016, the Victorian government established the Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency (VAEA) to plan for the prioritised removal of asbestos from Victorian government-owned buildings. The VAEA will report annually to the government on the progress of removal. The reporting cycle will ensure a consistent, risk-based approach across government to the assessment, removal and management of ACMs in Victorian Government buildings now and into the future.

Recent media attention has provided a distorted view of the risks of asbestos within the Tasmanian community. However, it is acknowledged that raising awareness of the dangers of asbestos is still vitally significant. Exposure does not always lead to disease, but every time someone is exposed, the risk of future illness increases.

SafeWork SA undertook an initiative to streamline the collection of asbestos removal notification data and other documents that were required to be provided to the work health and safety regulator. An online portal was developed to eliminate the administrative burden and delays for asbestos removalists as a result of processing hard copy forms, including notification forms, clearance certificates and waste transport certification.

In 2010, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) established a dedicated Asbestos Unit. In 2017, the unit expanded to target investigation of poorly performing asbestos licence holders, to target selected asbestos regulatory prosecutions, to oversee high profile and high-risk events such as the removal of asbestos debris arising from the use of high-pressure water and to oversee the management and removal of imported asbestos containing materials.