Ageing asbestos materials

Problem

Australia was one of the highest users of asbestos in the world. All asbestos materials are now coming to their end of life. As they deteriorate the risk of airborne asbestos fibres increases. The need to manage or remove these materials from the built environment also then increases.

Incidents such as a devasting fire in the former wool store in Wickham (Newcastle) in 2022 have highlighted the risks from asbestos roofing – often called ‘super six’ roofing – when it is left to weather and in the case of the Wickham woolstore, to burn. The costs to councils, response agencies, government regulators and affected communities to respond and make property safe are extraordinary.

The issue of ageing asbestos is compounded when buildings containing these materials are left abandoned, become derelict and are often burnt (due to house fires or vandalism). This is a particular problem in rural and regional NSW where property values can make it difficult to recover the cost of asbestos removal and clean-up. Councils are often left to respond to public health risks and community concerns and incur the cost for clean-up.

Outcomes sought

• Owners of burnt and derelict properties remove the asbestos risk in a safe and timely manner.
• Regulatory, insurance and other systems support owners to remove asbestos in a safe and timely manner.

Key issues to address

• There are many asbestos materials, and we need to choose our focus. With asbestos found in over 3,000 products, we need to make decisions on the most important materials to focus on now, based on risk, prevalence, cost and/or other factors.
• Effective management needs to centre around preventing exposure. There are many options for government to respond from funding, to incentives, to policy or legislative change, and industry practices.
• Balancing rights of property owners and their ability to respond. Any solutions need to carefully consider any requirements on property owners or councils, and potentially affect property values.
• Tackling landlord/tenant and owner/occupier scenarios. The risks of ageing asbestos materials may be the same whether a building is rented or owner-occupied. The way asbestos is managed in both situations will have different frameworks and constraints.