If your home was built or renovated before 1990, it could contain asbestos. Asbestos is commonly found in cement sheeting used for walls, ceilings and roofs and in thousands of other building products including vinyl flooring, adhesives, paints, textured coatings and insulation.

You can’t tell if a material contains asbestos just by looking at it and asbestos is dangerous when damaged, disturbed or deteriorated so you shouldn’t remove it yourself.

The statistics are shocking. Four thousand people a year still die from asbestos related diseases in Australia! To keep yourself and your family safe and avoid becoming part of that statistic, get in the know about asbestos before you begin any renovations on your home. Plan ahead and if you’re not sure when your house was built or previously renovated, assume asbestos is present.

If you think you might have asbestos in your home, avoid damaging or disturbing any material until you’ve had it tested. Northern Rivers councils offer subsidised ‘Household Asbestos Testing’ (HAT) kits, which include instructions on how to take samples safely and send them to a certified testing laboratory. If asbestos is identified and requires removal, you should then contact a licensed professional  https://verify.licence.nsw.gov.au/home to remove and dispose of it safely.

It’s dangerous and illegal to dispose of asbestos waste in any domestic or commercial bin and doing so can incur very heavy fines. Asbestos waste should always be disposed of at a landfill licensed to accept it, and in compliance with all necessary handling, transportation and quantity requirements. To find out more visit https://www.newaste.org.au/asbestos/#up.

For further information about managing or disposing of household asbestos or obtaining a Household Asbestos Testing kit, contact your local council or visit https://www.newaste.org.au/asbestos

For more information on asbestos safety visit https://www.asbestos.nsw.gov.au