Tough new asbestos regulations requiring the use of properly licensed removalists and checks to prevent illegal dumping are likely to save lives, according to the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia.

As of today, renovations or developments in NSW that require the removal or repair of more than 10 square metres of bonded asbestos material, or any amount of loose fibred friable asbestos, will require a complying development certificate.

The changes to the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act require:

• an outline of how much asbestos is in the proposed renovation or development;
• the use of a fully licensed asbestos removalist to carry out the work safely; and
• details of which landfill site the asbestos material will be taken to, to prevent illegal dumping which has become increasingly prevalent.

ADFA president Barry Robson said that the changes were vital to halt the large number of people unknowingly exposed to deadly asbestos fibres during renovations or demolition work.

“With up to a third of Australian homes still containing asbestos products, these tough new regulations are absolutely vital to protect the community from exposure to this deadly, cancer-causing fibre,” Mr Robson said.

“The danger is still there, lurking in many homes, and this is a good step to make sure asbestos is identified, removed and disposed of in a way which prevents exposure.“Sadly, in many cases unsafe removal has resulted not only in home renovators suffering deadly asbestos related diseases, but also their young children, which is a terrible and preventable tragedy. “While asbestos victims are still desperately supporting research for a cure, it is vitally important that we prevent other Australian’s from suffering the same fate at the hands of this deadly product.”

Plea to PM: Time running out for asbestos victims

26 October 2009

 Barry Robson, President of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (ADFA) has reacted with concern to revelations today that the Asbestos Injury Compensation Foundation (AICF) will imminently run out of money to fund victim compensation.

 The AICF was set up in 2007 arising from the national campaign by asbestos advocacy groups to force James Hardie to fully fund its liabilities for exposing tens of thousands of Australians to asbestos building products. 

 The funding shortfall arises from difficulties the multinational is having abroad with cash flow, retarding its capacity to top the fund up.

 Mr. Robson today called on Prime Minister Rudd to intervene personally and take charge of negotiations, to ensure asbestos victims are not forced into accepting compensation by instalments.

 He said that a push to have victims compensated in instalments was unacceptable and the Federal Government needed to be involved in a better solution. 

“Australian victims of asbestos disease are worried about these latest developments.  Given the average 155 day timeframe between diagnosis and death with mesothelioma, compensation by installment clearly does not work for victims.”

“This problem is James Hardies responsibility and they should fix it. We have had positive talks with the NSW Government but they can’t fix this without Federal help.  Victims deserve better.”

“James Hardie paid $153 million in taxation in December last year.  One solution could be the Commonwealth lending the compensation fund this money short term, until the US housing market improves and Hardies can again top the fund up.”

If Hardies executives fined, money should go to victims

20 August 2009

 Ahead of the Supreme Court decision in the ASIC civil prosecution of former James Hardie executives and directors this morning, Australia’s peak victim’s advocacy organisation, ADFA,  has called for the Australian Government to commit any fines levied by the Court into the asbestos compensation fund for victims, into education about the safe handling of asbestos and into research to find a cure for mesothelioma.

 The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (adfa) said today that if Justice Gzell fines former executives and non executive directors of the building products multinational, these fines would normally go into consolidated revenue but on this occasion the priority should be victims of the company’s asbestos products.

 ADFA President Barry Robson said that under the Corporations Act, Justice Gzell can impose fines and/or ban individuals from being directors of a company. If the maximum fines are handed down all up it would total in excess of $2million.  

 “We say the fines should go to the victims- after all the fines would arise out of the company, executives and directors behavior in trying to move off shore without leaving adequate funds for victims. If there are substantial fines then the first priority should be a loan to the Fund that pays victims compensation.”

 “Anything more should go to research to find a cure for mesothelioma or educating the public about the dangers of asbestos, which is still in most homes throughout Australia. This is especially important because Hardies have not put any significant money into research or education.”

 “The prosecution may be over today but this is not over for Hardie’s victims. There is no certainty that future compensation awards will be met given the Fund is running out of money and Hardies have refused to top it up. Hardie is crying poor- citing the global financial crisis- yet at its Information to Shareholders Meeting in Sydney this week it talked up its profitability and consequently its share price increased by 21%.”

 “We cannot forget the victims- they are still sick and dying. They deserve some sense of justice- there has still been no criminal prosecutions of Hardies’ directors both for their recent conduct or in making a product they knew could kill people without warning its workers or users of its products.”

Wallaga Lakes Aboriginal community must be evacuated

Government inquiry needed into poisoning of entire community

18 May 2009

 Australia’s main asbestos advocacy group, ADFA, is today calling for the urgent evacuation of an Aboriginal community on the NSW South Coast, following independent test results confirming widespread asbestos contamination across the entire community.

 The Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (ADFA) is also calling for the federal Government to institute an urgent independent inquiry into exactly how an entire community could be exposed to asbestos for so many years.

 ADFA President Barry Robson, who has visited the Wallaga Lakes Aboriginal community several times in the last month, said that a war of words had broken out between state and federal government as to how the contamination had occurred and who was responsible for the clean up.

 “How this fiasco occurred remains to be seen – and should be the subject of a thorough, independent inquiry.“

 “What is needed now however is the urgent evacuation of the entire community until the area is made safe.  Currently we have children playing in and around asbestos contamination and government authorities who should know better failing to so much as put up the correct warning signage.”

 “The independent test results are in, Wallaga Lakes is a ticking bomb.” 

 “One thing is certain – this sort of fiasco would not be tolerated in a white Australian community.” 

 “Blame can and should be apportioned later, but now this community needs to be taken to safety urgently.”

James Hardie compo fund flags major problems with victim compensation

8 May 2009

 Trustees of the James Hardie Asbestos Injury Compensation Fund (AICF) this afternoon met with the leadership of four major victims advocacy groups in Sydney, where the advocacy groups were advised of problems with the fund set up to compensate victims of James Hardie asbestos products.

 Commenting after the meeting, ADFA President Barry Robson confirmed the news was grim.

 “The fund has advised they will have problems meeting their 3-5 year compensation targets and have flagged the possibility of compensation payments by instalment.  There is a substantial shortfall in funding required to meet obligations, arising from the impact of the recession on James Hardie.”

 “All victims groups attending the meeting are opposed to instalment payments, the bottom line is instalment payments don’t work so well for people who are dying.”

 “We may need to call on both the NSW and Federal Governments to help find an alternative solution.”

 Attendees of the meeting include the leadership of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (adfa), the Asbestos Victims Association of South Australia (AVA-SA), the Queensland Asbestos Related Diseases Support Society (QARDSS) and Gippsland Asbestos Related Diseases Support (GARDS) as well as NSW Manufacturing Workers State Secretary Paul Bastian and victim legal counsel Tanya Segelov of Turner Freeman Lawyers.

 The groups will now attend a meeting at 3-30pm, with the NSW Attorney General to discuss the problem.

ABC News reported this morning that samples removed from the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal community have been shown to have significant amounts of amosite (yellow asbestos) and chrysotile (white asbestos).

As we reported previously, the current housing of the Yuin people of this region is built directly on top of the demolished remnants of older fibro housing.

Adfa wishes all our members and supporters a pleasant and enriching May Day for 2009.

Not many people know that the origins of May Day as an international workers day of commemoration actually has its roots in Australia. Click that highlighted link for some interesting trivia.

In Sydney, this year’s march will take place on Sunday May 3rd meeting at Hyde Park North at Midday. Click here for the speakers list and further details.

We’ll leave the final word to English folk singer Billy Bragg.

I kept the faith and I kept voting
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand
For theirs is a land with a wall around it
And mine is a faith in my fellow man
Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
And mine is the peace we knew
Between the wars

April 28 is commemorated around the world as a day or mourning for workers killed or injured as a result of their employment.

The date was first observed in Canada in 1984 and in recent years has been adopted and supported by asbestos campaigners around the world.

See Labornet for a list commemorative gatherings in your area.

Adfa president Barry Robson will feature tonight on Living Black, SBS’s indigenous affairs program. Barry took SBS down to the NSW south coast town of Wallaga to inspect the disastrous asbestos waste scattered throughout the lands occupied by the local indigenous people. In the early 1990’s, the mass demolition of existing fibro homes saw the local council simply dump tonnes of asbestos in open-cut ditches throughout the country of the Yuin people.

Living Black, SBS, 6pm

Click here for a preview.

Click here for the ABC’s news archive concerning this issue.

Update

This story now available for full download. Click here.

The current global economic crisis is having a very negative impact on the bottom line of many international corporations. In the wake of yesterday’s Supreme Court decision against their former directors and executives, James Hardie chose to issue a statement concerning their own financial well-being in these difficult times. Hardie CEO Loui Gries said the company would not be able to contribute any funding to their compensation scheme for the next two years.

Adfa has joined with other asbestos advocacy groups around Australia to call for James Hardie to open up their books for inspection.

In the interim, we advise our members that the agreement which established the compensation fund contained provisions for payments to be provided in installments instead of via lump sums. There is no immediate concern for the funding of current claims.

Click here to listen to Adfa outlining their concerns on The World Today program on 702 ABC Sydney.

The NSW Court of Appeal have given hope to thousands of asbestos disease sufferers with their decision in the case of Amaca v Novek.

This case concerned Margaret Dawson, a grandmother who as a young woman washed her father’s work clothes and later those of her late husband. Both men were employees at the James Hardie factory in Camelia. In recent years, Mrs Dawson moved in with her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. She in effect became the primary carer of the two toddlers whilst her daughter and husband went out to work. In this day and age, such childcare arrangements are increasingly common.

Whilst contracting asbestos related diseases from such third party exposure is not unusual, what makes this case significant is that for the first time, the courts have awarded damages to cover the cost of childcare that must now be outlayed by Mrs Dawson’s daughter. A simple way of understanding this is that but for the injury incurred to Mrs Dawson via her exposure to Hardie’s asbestos products, she would still be ablive and well and capable of taking care of her grandchildren. As she is not, these childcare costs should be footed by the party who caused her injury.

For further media links on this story, see The Australian, Channel Seven News and Fairfax Online.

NSW WorkCover a statutory authority (under state law) in NSW which enforces the OHS in the work enviroment.

WorkCover has no jurisdictional authority in the non-occupational (home) environment. Local government (councils) set the regulations you must follow if you are planning to remove asbestos in the home environment.

Many local councils follow the guidelines set by WorkCover for the removal and disposal of asbestos in the occupational environment for the home environment. Some councils have own asbestos removal and disposal policy and other councils have none. Some councils have specific requirements such as the keeping tipping receipts or pre development site inspections.

The bottom line is that the home owner/occupier is responsible for the removal and disposal of asbestos in the home environment in accordance with local council policy, not WorkCover.

If you are planning to renovate your home and are worried it may contain materials containing asbestos (MCA) contact your local council.

Many councils list local asbestos removal information on their website.

It is near impossible to influence the attitudes and behaviours of Australians with out supportive public policy. Irrespective of what adfa does unless we can influence the policy makers at all levels of government the fruits of our labour will be lost. We need consistent legislation across all levels of government (federal, state and local government). Supportive public policy is essential to achieve change within the community. Consider cigarette smoking for example, smoke-free work places, clubs and clubs would not have been achieved with out supportive public policy.

With regard to asbestos policy, more recent changes in state and federal Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) Legislation has led to changes in the occupational (work) environment whereby employers are now responsible for ensuring workers are protected from asbestos and everyday
work practices minimise the generation of asbestos dust.