FOR REGULATIONS PLEASE CONTACT

National: Asbestos Safety & Eradication Agency

For details about the regulations in your state visit:

• Australian Capital Territory
  • Asbestos Taskforce ACT
• New South Wales
  • Asbestos NSW
• Northern Territory
  • Asbestos NT
• Queensland
  • Asbestos Queensland
• South Australia
  • Asbestos South Australia
• Tasmania
  • Asbestos Tasmania
• Victoria
  • Asbestos Victoria
• Western Australia
  • Healthy WA – Asbestos
  • Asbestos in the Workplace – WA

 

ASBESTOS AWARENESS WEBSITE, MEDIA & CAMPAIGN ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT:

Insight Communications
P: +61 2 9518 4744 
M: PO Box 944, Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2012
E: For email enquiries please complete the below form.

To register for Asbestos Awareness Month click here

Note: Asbestos Awareness is not an asbestos removalist or assessment company. We cannot provide specific advice regarding whether your property contains asbestos.

 

AMBASSADORS

Cherie Barber

Cherie Barber is well known as Australia’s Renovation Queen™ and is Australia’s foremost expert on renovating.  Cherie is widely respected for her expertise, knowledge and skills in property renovations. With her own unique, down-to-earth natural style, Cherie has featured extensively in the media across all television networks, radio programs, print and online media throughout Australia and internationally.   With her renovating for profit career spanning more than 30 years, Cherie is a highly sought-after public speaker, author and award-winning businesswoman.

Cherie lost her grandfather to asbestos-related disease and is passionate about raising community awareness about the dangers of asbestos when renovating. Cherie has been a dedicated Ambassador for the National Asbestos Awareness campaign to educate homeowners and DIYers on how to renovate homes with asbestos safely since 2013.

“Australians have a love affair with renovating. But many do it in a gunho approach, demolishing walls and the like, in Rambo renovator style, oblivious to the fact that asbestos could be present. I’ve seen it first hand – inexperienced renovators and homeowners unknowingly exposing themselves and their children to asbestos fibres.  And our Aussie attitude of “she’ll be right”, won’t be right, when it comes to asbestos. I personally lost my grandfather to asbestos poisoning and I can tell you, it’s a horrible way to go. It’s my role as an ambassador to help spread the word, that through proper handling and awareness, no Australian in the future, needs to fall victim to this disease. We can put a stop to it. It’s an absolute honour to be involved in such an important cause”.

Scott Cam

Scott Cam another of Australia’s most loved television personalities and host of The Block said, “You can’t muck about with asbestos. It’s dangerous stuff. And because most people can’t tell if a material is made of asbestos just by looking at it, before starting a DIY job or a renovation, we want them to visit asbestosawareness.com.au so they have a better understanding of how to go about things to protect themselves and their families.”

Barry Du Bois

Barry Du Bois is an Interior Designer and Master Builder with over 30 years experience. As one of Australia’s best-loved TV personalities, Barry possesses the unique ability to communicate his professional knowledge on design, architecture, renovations and DIY to homeowners who are outside the building industry and features across the resources developed for Tradies.

“The Asbestos Awareness Checklists for Tradies will help save lives.  The easy to follow step-by-step instructions across a broad range of trades gives Tradies the know-how they need to locate possible asbestos-containing materials in any home built or renovated before 1990 so they know what to look for and can manage it safely”

His skill set encompasses everything in the home, from the kitchen bench to the garage, and he has a passion for educating and empowering people to transform their living spaces into something truly special.

Before appearing on TV, Barry had a hugely successful building career. Starting out as an apprentice carpenter, he soon progressed to owning and running his own building company before graduating onto renovating multi-million dollar waterfront homes.

Scott McGregor

Scott McGregor popular for his 30 years in the business and his roles in Better Homes and Gardens and as host of the hugely popular Room For Improvement said, “Many years of renovations on houses great and small has made me very aware of how toxic they can be and asbestos is on top of the list!”

“Too many Australian’s are suffering and dying young through the simple act of handling asbestos around the home. It’s time to get smart with DIY so when it comes to asbestos it’s a definite case of D-DIY, that is, Don’t do it yourself”

 

 

The Asbestos Awareness Campaign was launched in NSW in 2011. Working closely with stakeholders including local and state governments, not-for-profits, research organisations and businesses; in 2013 the campaign was rolled out Australia-wide as the National Asbestos Awareness Month Campaign.

With the serious health risks associated with exposure to asbestos fibres being of national concern and with 1 in every 3 Australian homes containing asbestos, the principle focus of the national campaign was to alert home renovators and tradespersons about the dangers of asbestos; provide information to assist in identifying asbestos-containing materials in and around homes built or renovated prior to 1990; and, provide information and resources on how to manage and dispose of asbestos safely.

In 2017, asbestosawareness.com.au increased its extensive suite of resources to include Asbestos Management Plan guides to assist in the safe management of asbestos-containing materials in commercial and non-residential properties and to assist rural workers in safely managing naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) in accordance with regulations.

Until 2017, the world-leading and internationally award winning Asbestos Awareness Campaign and many of the world-first resources featured on the asbestosawareness.com.au website were funded by the James Hardie Education Fund administered by the Government run Asbestos Education Committee chaired by SafeWork NSW with various NSW and Federal Government agencies contributing additional funding.

In April 2018, the Government managed Asbestos Education Committee was disbanded and funding of the Asbestos Awareness Campaign and the asbestosawareness.com.au website ceased.

In 2021 Asbestos Awareness partnered with a new independent Asbestos Education Committee comprised of experts across health, government, industry and victims of asbestos-related diseases and are seeking ongoing funding.

The Asbestos Awareness Campaign and the majority of the content featured on the asbestosawareness.com.au website was researched, developed and managed by Insight Communications in consultation with stakeholders, health, work and safety representatives, and relevant authority from State and Federal governments.

The Asbestos Awareness Campaign has focused on home renovators and tradesman by:

• Alerting those people to the dangers of asbestos;
• Alerting those people as to what products may contain asbestos and where those products may be found in existing households or other environments; and
• Advising those people as to the steps that ought to be taken by people planning home renovations or who otherwise identify asbestos products in their home or other.

 

 

The Asbestos Products Database is Australia’s first comprehensive online database to assist homeowners, renovators, tradespeople and some industries to identify asbestos-containing materials so they can be managed safely. The database provides  multiple search options for products commonly used in residential and commercial properties, in agriculture, automotive, industrial, plant and marine products and features over 60 different product types and more than 550 product photographs with descriptions and locations where these products might be found in homes built or renovated prior to 1990. 

Loose fill asbestos insulation

Product description
Thermal insulation materials in the form of granules, fibres, or other types of pieces that can be poured, pumped, or placed by hand.
Product type	Asbestos fibres - loose
Sub-Product type
Trading name(s)	Mr Fluffy Amoswool Asbestofluf
Other name(s)
Build element	Internal ceiling, wall cavities and sub floor areas of affected properties.
Product identification
Raw crushed fine amosite and crocidolite
Known uses	Ceiling insulation in domestic, industrial and commercial properties.
Asbestos fibre type	Amosite (brown asbestos) Crocidolite (blue asbestos)
Friable or Non-Friable	Friable
Known Supplier(s)
Known place of manufacture	South Africa
Date / period of manufacture	1968 - 1979
Building construction period	1961-1970,1970-1980
Location	Domestic home Bathroom Bedroom Ceiling / Ceiling space Dining room Dog kennels Internal walls Other Agricultural Commercial Ceilings Roof space Walls Industrial Ceilings Roof space Walls

 

More Images

 

Download as PDF

Media CentreAccess the media centre for press releases and comprehensive journalist notes. For print ready images visit the downloads page.

DownloadsEverything to help raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos in and around homes. Downloads include high resolution images of asbestos products, hazard locations and promotional images; awareness collateral like posters and flyers available in 6 languages; online web banners; audio visual presentations and videos and various advertising collateral (press ads, radio ads and community service announcements). There are over 270 files to choose!

Resources for Registered ParticipantsPassword Protected: Organisations and individuals who register to participate in the Asbestos Awareness Campaign are provided with a password to access special resources tailored to help them educate their communities. To access these resources please register.

 

For a comprehensive range of images with descriptions of asbestos containing materials, visit the Asbestos Products Database.

‘Betty’ – The Asbestos Education House is the first of her kind in Australia and the world, and is a community engagement and experiential awareness initiative of  Insight Communications for the Asbestos Education Committee.

Betty is a purpose built, mobile model home designed to demonstrate where asbestos might be found in and around any Australian home built or renovated before 1990. Her exterior resembles a typical fibro home but when opened up, she has extensive audio and visual information including a bathroom, kitchen, living room, man shed/garage and a dog house.

Betty’s mission is to educate all Australians about the dangers of asbestos so they think smart, think safe, think asbestosawareness.com.au, because it’s not worth the risk!

Her curators and chauffeurs, Geoff and Karen Wicks, are fully trained volunteers who enable her to educate the community as well as tend to her maintenance and upkeep. Geoff is a retired avionics engineer and avid DIYer!

From 2012 to 2017, Betty visited hundreds of communities around Sydney and regularly toured throughout NSW, primarily exhibiting at community events, council activities and DIY or renovation expos to educate Australians about asbestos dangers. Betty has also toured more

than 65,000 kilometres throughout every state and territory within Australia except WA.

 

Following Betty’s successful tour of Tasmania in 2017, Betty has been off the road since 2018 due to funding cuts. To help save lives, it is hoped that funding will soon be provided to ensure Betty and her dedicated crew can be back on the road spreading the word in the community about the dangers of asbestos and how to manage it safely.

Between November 2012 and December 2017 Betty has:

• Had 244 public appearances
• Held 203 Media Call events
• Been displayed at 51 Bunnings Stores in NSW, Victoria, QLD, SA and NT
• Visited various community events including:
  • The Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2013 and 2015
  • The Sydney Home Show
  • ADFA Memorial Day 2013, 2014 
  • AGQUIP
  • AUSGRID & Endeavour Energy
  • The Ballina Home Show
  • Coffs Harbour Waste Conference
  • Georges River Council’s Oatley Village Festival
  • Hills Shire Council’s Creswood Fair
  • Home and Garden Show Bowral
  • Lithgow Council Annual Safety Day 2014
  • The Living Room
  • Mona Vale Markets
  • NAIDOC Week Events 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
  • Parramatta Council’s Australia Day Celebrations at Parramatta Park
  • The Royal Agricultural Society’s Camden Show, Parks Show and Condobolin Show
  • Strathfield Spring Fair
  • Tocal Field Days

 Follow Betty on Facebook

To partner with Asbestos Awareness and become a sponsor of Betty and the vehicle that tows her, please contact us to request a Partnership Prospectus.

Betty Physical Stats:

• Weight: 1.42 Tonne
• Towbar Weight: 100kg
• Body Length With Draw Bar: 5.5m Long
• Body Length – Just House: 3.6m Long
• Width: 2.4m Wide
• Height: 2.9m Tall
• Power: 240v – also has her own generator

National Asbestos Awareness Month (1-30 November) is Australia’s leading multi award-winning asbestos awareness and community education campaign in the prevention of asbestos-related diseases.

With asbestos-related diseases continuing to increase among Australians as a direct result of exposure to asbestos fibres during home renovations or in the workplace; the importance of increasing awareness and educating Australians on how to manage asbestos safely in accordance with regulations cannot be overstated.

In 2011, we launched Asbestos Awareness Week in NSW with the first asbestosawareness.com.au website.

The week-long campaign held in the last week of November to coincide with Asbestos Awareness Day, was aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of asbestos among homeowners and renovators to drive traffic to asbestosawareness.com.au where homeowners could access vital information on how to manage asbestos safely.

 

In 2012, Asbestos Awareness Week was rolled out as Australia’s first integrated national campaign.

The campaign aimed at engaging homeowners and renovators had been hugely successful in increasing the number of Australian’s accessing information on the website. However, research determined that although our week-long campaign continued to gain traction in engaging communities nationally; by extending the campaign to become Asbestos Awareness Month, we would engage a greater number of people to prevent asbestos exposure.

 

In 2013, we launched Australia’s first National Asbestos Awareness Month campaign.

Australia’s first National Asbestos Awareness Month achieved wide-spread awareness of the dangers of asbestos and provided more practical resources to help homeowners and renovators manage asbestos safely.

National Asbestos Awareness Month in the prevention of asbestos-related diseases.

Since 2013, we’ve continued to develop an extensive volume of user-friendly resources for homeowners. We’ve also expanded the scope of the campaign to include tradies, domestic and

commercial property owners and managers, as well as those living and working in regional Australia

 where naturally occurring asbestos exists.

By extending Asbestos Awareness Week to become National Asbestos Awareness Month we increased opportunities to advance community awareness and education in the prevention of asbestos-related diseases.

National Asbestos Awareness Month and asbestosawareness.com.au garners international recognition.

The National Asbestos Awareness Month campaign and asbestosawareness.com.au are internationally acclaimed by academics, researchers, asbestos support groups and industry leaders for continuing to successfully generate wide-spread community awareness of asbestos risks while providing accessible resources for homeowners, renovators, tradespersons and commercial, domestic and rural property owners and managers.  

National Asbestos Awareness Month and COVID-19.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, community and workplace participation in National Asbestos Awareness Month has been severely impacted with organisations unable to hold asbestos awareness activities.  Beyond COVID, National Asbestos Awareness Month will continue to actively engage communities and organisations in the prevention of asbestos-related diseases.

To participate in National Asbestos Awareness Month, register here to download free campaign resources.