GARDS

t: 03 5127 7744    |    email us    |        
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Our Services
    • Bio for Vicki Hamilton OAM
    • Media
    • Sponsors
    • Contact Us
    • Make a donation
  • About Asbestos
    • What is Asbestos?
    • Renovating during COVID-19?
    • Finding Asbestos at Home
    • Finding Asbestos Inside your Home
    • Asbestos in Products we use at Home
    • Asbestos removal at home
    • Importing Cars into Australia Asbestos free
    • Types of Asbestos Disease
    • What if you have been exposed to Asbestos?
    • Asbestos History in the Latrobe Valley
    • Asbestos Links
    • Asbestos Information Booklet 2021 (pdf)
    • Videos about Asbestos Disease
    • Gallery
  • Silicosis
    • What is Silica?
    • What is Silicosis?
    • Silicosis FAQ
    • High Risk Crystalline Silica work
    • Videos about Silicosis Disease
    • Silicosis Information booklet 2020 (pdf)
    • Silicosis Disease information (pdfs)
    • Links to information about Silica and Silicosis
  • Support
    • Asbestos & Silicosis Support Groups
    • Counselling Services
    • Mental Health Support
    • We Can Cancer Support
    • Palliative Care Advice Service
    • Nurse on Call
    • Accommodation near Hospitals
    • Asbestos Support brochure (pdf)
    • Silicosis Support brochure (pdf)
    • How long do I have to live? Articles on lung disease
  • Legal Info & FAQ
    • FAQ
    • Gordon Legal
    • Maurice Blackburn
    • Slater & Gordon
  • Education
    • Asbestos & Silica Awareness and Education
    • Asbestos & Silica videos for Apprentices and Tradies
    • Asbestos Education – Brochures and Booklets
    • Asbestos Safety for Tradies – Links
  • Membership
    • Join ACV/GARDS
    • Meeting Dates
    • Membership Documents
    • Newsletters
    • Latest News
    • Events

National Asbestos Response Grinds To Halt As Federal Government Withholds Funding

March 30, 2016 By Vicki Hamilton

Asbestos support groups have slammed the Federal Government for allowing the national
response to the deadly mineral to grind to a halt over a funding dispute with the independent
government agency tasked with overseeing its eventual eradication.
Setup with bipartisan support in 2013, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency has been
working with state and territory governments on a coordinated plan to address ageing asbestos
products located in millions of homes, workplaces and public buildings.
But support groups say that process has ground to a halt because the agency has been unable to
access the funding needed to implement the plan.
“The whole situation is like a bad episode of Utopia,” Asbestos Council of Victoria / GARDS
secretary Vicki Hamilton said.
“We have an agency that was created to address a serious issue, that has spent several years
developing a national strategic plan that was agreed to by every state and territory, yet now can’t
access previously committed funding to actually put that plan into action.”
Ms Hamilton said the Federal Government was refusing to allow the agency to access $3 million
that was unspent in previous years to roll out the plan.
“A public service hiring freeze delayed the setup of the agency, while the need to ensure every
states and territory was happy with the strategic plan slowed down its adoption, meaning some of
the funding from the first two years went unspent,” she said.
“Now that those issues are resolved and there’s a clear course of action on the table, the Federal
Government is refusing to allow the agency to access that money to put the plan into action.
“It’s an absurd situation that has left support groups around the country asking whether the agency
has lost bipartisan support and whether this financial strangulation is simply closure by stealth.”
Ms Hamilton said ASEA has already dealt with a range of major issues in its short life, from
coordinating the inspectors who oversaw the remediation of Telstra pits after asbestos concerns
halted the construction of the NBN, to addressing the ongoing importation of asbestos products,
located in items ranging from trains, boats, and electrical equipment to Dora the Explorer crayons.
“It took more than a decade of lobbying for this agency to be created and for the Federal
Government to take the lead to eradicate the millions of tonnes of asbestos still in our community,”
he said.
“It’s heartbreaking to think that all that work could be lost because of a dispute over a few million
dollars.”

Asbestos Funding

An program to control the removal of deadly asbestos is in danger of collapsing, according to the Asbestos Council of Victoria/GARDS Inc. It says the federal government is not releasing funding for the rollout of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency.

Posted by WIN News Gippsland on Thursday, 31 March 2016

Filed Under: General information

Finding Asbestos at Home

Asbestos Support Groups

Asbestos Council of Victoria-icon-counselling

Counselling Services

Asbestos Council of Victoria-icon-awareness

Asbestos & Silica Awareness and Education

Latest News

  • Read our July 2023 newsletter
  • ACV/GARDS December 2022 newsletter
  • National Asbestos Awareness Week 21st Nov – 27th Nov 2022
  • Christmas Lunch for ACV/GARDS Members 3rd December 2022
  • Asbestos Awareness Day Event Gippsland 25th November 2022
  • Asbestos Awareness Day Event Melbourne 14th November 2022
  • Watch and learn from Asbestos and Silica videos
  • New infographic to help identify your risk with crystalline silica work

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Asbestos Council of Victoria /GARDS gratefully acknowledge our major sponsors and other supporters.

GARDS support ribbon

    

MAJOR SPONSORS

• WorkSafe Victoria

SUPPORTERS

• Mairin OHS&E Consulting
• Slater + Gordon Lawyers
• Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
• Gordon Legal
• Latrobe Valley Funeral Services

• Gippsland Trades & Labour Council
• CFMEU Victoria

• Latrobe City Council
• Asbestos Audits Queensland

CONTACT US

Office location:
211 Lloyd Street
Moe, Victoria
Australia 3825

Postal address:
ACV/GARDS
PO Box 111
Moe, Victoria
Australia 3825

T: 03 5127 7744
Send us an email
Skype: VickiGARDS
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

SUPPORT US

Asbestos Council of Victoria-support-usACV / GARDS is an endorsed charity. All donations over $2 are tax deductable.
Click here to give online now.

Give via PayPal Giving Fund:





SIGN UP

Asbestos Council of Victoria-signupClick here to signup and receive our regular newsletter and any important news.

Copyright © 2023 Asbestos Council of Victoria / GARDS 2015 · ACV/GARDS website Terms & Conditions · Website by Italicherry Design Studio