Most persons who have contracted mesothelioma are entitled to make a compensation claim. If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, it is important for you to know your legal rights, thus it is important you speak to a lawyer as soon as possible.

Alex Stuart of Stuart Lawyers, is one of Australia’s most experienced lawyers practicing in asbestos litigation. For more than 15 years, he has acted for hundreds of sufferers of mesothelioma including those living in South Australia, Victoria and the Australia Capital Territory. He has offices on Hurtle Square in Adelaide, and on Little Collins Street in Melbourne. He also regularly visits Canberra.

Mesothelioma is a tumour which affects the protective lining of the lung or abdomen, which is known as the mesothelium.

The most common form of mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma (the lining of the lung) as compared to peritoneal mesothelioma (the lining of the abdomen). Pleural mesotheliomas make up about 95% of mesotheliomas diagnosed in Australia.

Over the years, asbestos has been used in thousands of products, anything from a cigarette filter to an ironing board cover.

The most obvious products that contained asbestos were building products and insulation products.

Building products such as flat and corrugated sheets of asbestos were installed in millions of homes in Australia up until the early 1980s. If your home was built prior to this time, asbestos cement sheets can often be found in the eaves, in the cladding of the home or in wet areas such as the laundry or bathroom areas.

Insulation products, such as pipe lagging, were more common in factories. However pipe lagging was also used in residential homes, such as on hot water systems.