Commonwealth takes steps to provide compensation for Mr Fluffy victims

7th March 2021

The Commonwealth has actively begun investigating a new scheme to provide compensation to individuals that have contracted asbestos related diseases from living in houses insulated with Mr Fluffy.

If you live in Canberra, it is highly likely you have heard of the Mr Fluffy homes. Between 1968 and 1979 over 1000 homes in Canberra and surrounds were pumped with toxic Mr Fluffy, loose fill asbestos insulation. Now, most of these homes have been demolished or at least cleaned of all visible and accessible traces of the product, but we are still seeing the effects. Approximately 1-2 people every year are being diagnosed with asbestos related diseases that can be linked back to the Mr Fluffy insulation.

Most exposure to asbestos occurs in the workplace, or during home renovations and there are compensation schemes for these victims. However, in these cases, the body responsible for the compensation is the corporation that caused the exposure, but in the Mr Fluffy cases, the corporation no longer exists, and therefore no compensation can be made at their expense. Victims and their families feel that the onus should fall on the federal government to provide compensation, due to the accusation that they knew about the detrimental health effects and let practice continue.

In mid-1968 a leading industrial hygienist sent a report to the federal government regarding the use and installation of loose fill asbestos. He recommended that the company now known as Mr Fluffy should be dissuaded or prevented from using asbestos insulation due to mounting evidence that community exposure of asbestos is undesirable. While it crossed the desks of the Director for the Department of Health and the Director the Department of Works, the substance was used for another 11 years before asbestos controls were introduced.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that federal bureaucrats are now investigating the proposal of establishing a fund and would work as quickly as possible with ACT government officials on this matter. This is currently the only form of asbestos exposure, that as a bystander, you are not entitled to any compensation.

NSW Government Seeks to Remove Asbestos Waste Levy

The levy on disposal of non-friable, wrapped asbestos waste up to 250 kilograms would be dropped under a new NSW government proposal.

The government stated that as much eight per cent of all illegally dumped waste across NSW is asbestos waste. By removing the levy on disposal, it is hoped that people would have no reason to dump asbestos waste, reducing the environmental and health impacts caused by the dumping of the hazardous material.

Currently there is a $143.60 per tonne levy on waste in metro areas and $82.70 per tonne in regional areas.

The NSW Asbestos Waste Strategy 2019-21 also sought to discourage people from dumping asbestos waste illegally by introducing GPS tracking of repeat offenders and cancellation of vehicle registration for people caught doing the wrong thing.

Individuals can be fined up to $500,000 for illegally dumping asbestos, while companies can face penalties of up to $2 million.

Thousands of Bottles of Baby Powder in US Recalled after Asbestos Find

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has recalled over 30,000 bottles of talc. after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified trace amounts of asbestos during routine testing.

Talc, a very soft mineral, is mined from deposits around the world, which can be contaminated with asbestos. The talc is crushed into a white powder and purified for use in personal care products to absorb moisture.

A spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson stated that their talc. is periodically tested for asbestos including as recently as last month, and no asbestos asbestos has been found.

In December 2018, Reuters reported that Johnson & Johnson had known about the presence of asbestos in its baby powder for decades. In its statement, Johnson & Johnson said: "Simply put, the Reuters story is an absurd conspiracy theory...Thousands of independent tests by regulators and the world's leading labs prove our baby powder has never contained asbestos."

An article written by the ABC last year includes a discussion with Professor Bernard Stewart, a scientific advisor for Cancer Council, which addresses some of the concerns around asbestos identified within talcum powder. The article can be found at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-28/is-it-safe-to-use-baby-powder/10630398

NRL Finals Impacted by Asbestos Find

The identification of asbestos at Brookvale Oval, the home ground of NRL rugby league team the Manly Sea Eagles, has caused the NRL to consider moving Manly’s home final against the Cronulla Sharks to a neutral ground.

The asbestos was identified as part of testing for the standard excavation planning at the northern end of the ground. The local council and the Sea Eagles have been given 24 hours to assess the safety of the venue before tickets are released for the final.

Manly owner Scott Penn stated that the NRL were notified immediately of the asbestos find and is confident that the issue can be resolved before the Sea Eagles clash with the Sharks on Saturday night.

New Mr Fluffy Property Identified - Curtin, ACT

A “Mr Fluffy” loose-fill asbestos insulation impacted property has been identified in Curtin, ACT , making it the first such find for almost three years.

The property which was identified as containing the dangerous loose asbestos insulation in early July was added to the ACT government’s list of affected properties on 11 July 2019.

This property is the most recent in a handful of residential properties which were insulated with loose Amosite or Crocidolite asbestos, but which weren’t identified during an asbestos insulation testing program undertaken by the government in the late 1980s. The testing program was conducted with the purpose of identifying residential properties which were insulated with the dangerous mineral fibre. Properties which were identified as being affected were subsequently involved in a bulk asbestos removal program in the late 80s and early 90s and also another buy-back scheme involving the clean and demolition of said properties, which property owners could choose to participate in.

This find raises further concerns around the scope of the initial testing program and whether further properties may be unknowingly contaminated.

L&D offers focused testing of ceiling insulation for asbestos and also includes an assessment of a properties ceiling space as part of our full residential asbestos assessments.