Asbestos in Australia: a brief overview

The ‘miracle mineral’ that went everywhere

Asbestos was prized for being strong, flexible, heat- and fire-resistant, a good insulator — and cheap. From around the 1920s through to the 1980s it went into an enormous range of building products, most commonly asbestos-cement sheeting (“fibro”). Up to 90% of the asbestos used here went into building products, especially cement materials.

The scale was huge. Through the post-war building boom, a large share of new housing used asbestos cement — by some accounts about a quarter of all new Australian housing up to the 1960s was clad in it, and the great majority of homes built before the late 1970s contained asbestos products of some kind.

How the ban came in

Recognition of the health risks led to staged bans — partial restrictions from the mid-1980s, then a complete national ban on 31 December 2003 covering the manufacture, import, supply and use of all six types of asbestos. It became illegal to sell, supply, import, install, store or re-use asbestos-containing materials.

Crucially, the ban applies to new asbestos. It does not require the removal of asbestos already installed before that date — which is exactly why so much remains in buildings today.

Why it’s still a problem

Despite the ban, asbestos is still common in older buildings — the ASEA estimates it’s present in around 1 in 3 Australian homes ^[1]. If a home was built or renovated before 1990, there’s a good chance it contains asbestos cement somewhere: ceilings, internal and external cladding, eaves, wet areas and fences are typical spots.

While it’s intact and undisturbed, that asbestos generally poses a low immediate risk. The danger appears when material deteriorates with age, or is damaged, cut or disturbed — releasing fibres into the air. That’s why, decades after the ban, testing before you renovate or buy an older property is still the sensible first step.