Clarifying the prohibition on asbestos in the ACT

The ACT Minister for Industrial Relations, Katy Gallagher MLA, introduced the Dangerous Substances Amendment Bill 2010 into the Legislative Assembly recently to ensure that ACT law with respect to asbestos is up to date.

The Minister stated: “The Bill clarifies the definition of asbestos so that it is consistent with the most recent advice from the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme, the Commonwealth regulator of industrial chemicals.

“It has been illegal to import asbestos, and to install or re-use asbestos products in the territory since December 2003. This legislation will clarify what is regarded as asbestos and therefore banned in the Territory.”

Earlier this year, the Commonwealth Government had requested that all states and territories review the effect of their legislation banning asbestos to ensure that all asbestos is prohibited and products that do not contain asbestos are not inadvertently prohibited.

These products include:

• Talcum powder, which can contain non asbestos form of tremolite;
• Nephrite Jade - a non-asbestos form of tremolite or actinolite; and
• Vermiculite, which is often added to gardening soil.