A man has received a $1,200 fine after he failed to reveal to police the identity of the person driving a ute that was responsible for dumping a trailer of asbestos in the driveway of a Wollongong City Councilor.

Despite the car being registered in the man’s grandmother’s name and telling police many other people drive the ute, Brett Blackwell was found to be responsible for the ute that was captured dumping the asbestos on CCTV footage.

Magistrate Les Mabbutt found that because Blackwell was responsible for the vehicle, he had a duty to reveal to police who was driving the ute at the time the asbestos was dumped and failing to do was the reason the fine was issued.
These kinds of disciplinary actions are extremely important when it comes to asbestos as even minimal exposure to asbestos can result in a person contracting an asbestos related illness such as mesothelioma.

Asbestos related diseases are a major health concern for Australia as Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related illnesses in the world. The most troubling of these is the cancer mesothelioma which has already claimed the lives of so many Australians and the number of new cases is only expected to rise.

For people in Australian suffering asbestos conditions, multiple states such as South Australia and Victoria have implemented specific legislation to assist sufferers of asbestos conditions to pursue asbestos compensation.

Asbestos has been discovered in Kingsley Reserve playground in Glenunga, South Australia, by Burnside Council. Further asbestos was also found in the area at Glenunga Croquet Club in sheeting and pipe under a newly planted vegetable garden.

The asbestos was found by Burnside Council staff when they conducted their regular examination of the Kingsley Reserve park. Council has confirmed that both the playground and vegetable garden will be closed until the asbestos is removed from the areas. Council have also spoken out saying that the asbestos found poses a small risk to the community as testing has revealed that the asbestos fragments are not likely to become airborne.

Despite this, even minimal exposure to asbestos can lead to a person contracting an asbestos related illness such as mesothelioma. The council is making efforts to speak to all people who have been know to come in contact with the contaminated soil and to keep them up to date. These precautions are good as asbestos related illnesses are a major health concern, especially mesothelioma, which is expected to peak within the next decade.

South Australia has one of the highest incidences of asbestos related illnesses in the world. There are many mesothelioma claims in South Australia each year, and many asbestos compensation claims commenced in the Adelaide Court. There is specific legislation in South Australia designed to assist South Australian’s suffering asbestos conditions pursue a claim for asbestos compensation in South Australia.

Over Christmas, work is set to begin to remove asbestos from some of Sydney’s small underground power stations. Ausgrid has confirmed that the procedure will consist of removing asbestos from 10 small electricity substations around Sydney CBD including ones at Circular Quay and Hyde Park.

This course of action comes after the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) last month revealed documents which suggested that 49 cases of asbestos related diseases including mesothelioma and asbestosis over the past 22 years were connected to the company. ETU confirmed that asbestos was present in underground electricity substations and meter boards in Sydney and called on Ausgrid to undertake an inspection and remove all asbestos.

The removal and remediation of the asbestos will take place during the night to reduce the amount of disturbance to the public and only a small amount of people are expected to be run into electricity problems.

The presence of asbestos is due to asbestos being a regularly used material before the 1980s in the power industry. This resulted in many people being exposed to asbestos and contracting asbestos related illnesses including asbestosis and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma in Australia is expected to peak within the next decade. In order to assist Australians suffering asbestos conditions, various Australian states have introduced legislation which helps such persons pursue asbestos compensation claims in Australia, including both asbestosis compensation in Australia and mesothelioma compensation in Australia.

Gosford Council in NSW has spoke out to the community warning homeowners to make sure they check carefully for asbestos in their homes before undertaking renovations. Gosford Council has joined the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute of Australia to participate in Asbestos Awareness Week to help reduce the number of home renovators being diagnosed with asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Gosford Mayor, Lawrie McKinna, spoke about the serious problem of asbestos, highlighting that Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos diseases in the world and the number of people affected by mesothelioma is only going to rise.

McKinna has stressed that people should take the dangers of asbestos seriously when renovating or maintaining their homes or they will be putting themselves and their family at risk.

As part of an asbestos awareness campaign in Gosford, a purpose-build asbestos education truck was set up on Wednesday in Gosford’s Kibble Park. Once the Asbestos Awareness week comes to an end, the truck will be taken around the state by The Asbestos Diseases Research Institute to further educate people on the dangers of asbestos.

Asbestos diseases have claimed the lives of many Australians, especially the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, due to Australia being such a heavy user of the deadly material in the past. As a result, many Australian states including NSW, South Australia and Victoria have introduced legislation that assists individuals pursuing an asbestos compensation claim including both asbestosis compensation and mesothelioma compensation claims.