The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have made the decision to monitor the recall of nearly 24,000 Great Wall and Chery cars which were found to have engines and exhaust gaskets containing asbestos.

However this recall does not require manufactures to replace all parts of the car that contain asbestos straight away. Customers may demand for this be done however if they do not, a warning sticker will be attached to the engine bay of the car at its next service.

The importation of all forms of asbestos is prohibited in Australia by the Customs Act and the supply, sale and use of any form of asbestos is also prohibited in all States and Territories in Australia. These laws prohibiting asbestos are in place as exposure to asbestos can cause serious health concerns including asbestosis and the cancer mesothelioma.

Despite these asbestos fears Delia Rickard deputy chairwoman of the ACCC has assured there are no health risks present to consumers during the normal use of their vehicle. However she does warn people that the engine and exhaust systems of these cars should only be worked on by qualified professionals. Despite the fact that there has been an importation ban on asbestos since 2004 in Australia, both consumers and automotive professionals must still be aware that these asbestos risks may still be present today.

Asbestos litigation in Australia has occurred in the past in respect to former mechanics and persons who worked with asbestos brake linings going on to develop asbestos conditions such as mesothelioma. Asbestos compensation claims in South Australia and other states have been pursued by such people.

The cleanup of the old NSW asbestos mine located at Barraba is set to commence in the second half of this year. Recently, a community meeting occurred in respect to the abandoned asbestos mine as to the proposed cleanup by the NSW government.

The asbestos taken from the Barraba mine was chrysotile, being white asbestos. In the past, there has been some suggestion by a minority of people that white asbestos did not produce mesothelioma. These days, however, it is beyond controversy that white asbestos can cause mesothelioma, although it has less carcinogenicity than blue asbestos and brown asbestos. The ABC News report on the asbestos cleanup quoted Dr Durrheim of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, who said there is no safe level of exposure to white asbestos.

There have been a number of asbestos compensation claims in Australia in which the Australia asbestos victim has alleged that their asbestos condition was caused purely as a result of exposure to white asbestos, for example in asbestos brake lining cases and asbestos vinyl tile cases.

It is hoped that the asbestos contamination of Barraba is cleaned up so as to prevent persons who live in and around Barraba from developing asbestos conditions such as pleural mesothelioma.

The ACT branch of the Construction, Forestry and Mining Union has revealed that apprentices, as opposed to more senior workers, are usually the ones to identify asbestos in the workplace.

Various asbestos identification type training courses implemented in the recent past have resulted in the education of apprentices, allowing them to often identify dangerous materials such as asbestos more easily than their senior counterparts.

The ACT government is currently deciding when it will implement legislation to make such asbestos courses mandatory in the workplace, in an attempt to further educate workers on the risks of asbestos exposure, and how it can be safely handled.

Often apprentices are second or third generation building workers and have known of a family member or friend who has been diagnosed with an asbestos condition such as mesothelioma or asbestosis in Australia.

Asbestos compensation in ACT, including mesothelioma compensation in ACT, has eventuated from workers such as building workers being negligently exposed to asbestos in the past. The training of apprentices would be a positive step in the reduction of future asbestos litigation in Australia, which is expected by some experts to peak in 2020.

Finally, Australia will have uniform asbestos regulations to ensure consistency for workers involved in asbestos removal, thanks to the new Work Health and Safety (WHS) Asbestos Regulations.

Up until now, differences in training requirements between Australian states and territories have created problems in asbestos cleanup projects, such as the aftermath of the Queensland floods and the bushfires in Victoria.

The new Asbestos Regulations detail the requirements for asbestos assessors, asbestos removalists and supervisors, as well as licensing and training obligations across Australia, including Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, Northern Territory and ACT.

The Asbestos Regulations separate all Australian businesses in the asbestos industry into two types of licenses: Class A and Class B. Class A allows asbestos removalists to remove all types of asbestos, while removalists under the Class B license are only permitted to remove non-friable asbestos.

Friable asbestos is any asbestos material that can be crumbled or crushed by hand pressure into powder form, allowing asbestos fibres to become airborne and potentially be inhaled by humans. Non-friable asbestos includes all other asbestos materials where the asbestos fibres are bonded by cement, vinyl, resin or other materials. However, even non-friable asbestos can become friable if broken or damaged.

Exposure to asbestos is extremely dangerous as it can cause asbestos related conditions such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. Asbestos removalists need to take care when removing asbestos. The removal of asbestos is important to ensure mesothelioma in Australia and asbestosis in Australia is reduced. The new Asbestos Regulations are important to ensure that asbestos is removed safely across Australia and to reduce rates of mesothelioma and other asbestos related conditions.