Asbestos Awareness Week 2012

This year Asbestos Awareness Week will take place November 26 - 30.

The week before we have an international delegation of asbestos activists visiting Melbourne.

Why Asbestos Awareness Week?

The reason the union movement and Asbestos Diseases Support and Advocacy groups allocate a week each year as ‘Asbestos Awareness Week’ is because asbestos is still such a huge problem in Australia. Australia has an unenviable record of one of the world's highest rate of asbestos related diseases and a legacy of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) in many workplaces and buildings - public and private, commercial, domestic and industrial.

The use of all forms of asbestos in Australia has been banned since 2003, including its import and export. But, because of the legacy of its use, we have not solved the problem of asbestos exposures for either people at work or in the general community.

However, in great part due to the work of a coalition of Australian unions, community, asbestos support and advocacy groups and the Cancer Council, which developed a National Declaration: Towards an Asbestos Free Australia. (Read more). the Federal government established the Asbestos Management Review. The report was provided to Minister Shorten who immediately established an Office of Asbestos Safety.

 

In addition to a number of events being run in Victoria (and elsewhere), in the week before this year's Asbestos Awareness week an international delegation of asbestos activists will be visiting Melbourne. More information on public events with the international delegation, to follow.

 

Day
 Time
 Event/Host Location
Tuesday 27th 6pm GARDS Asbestos Seminar
for those interested in asbestos disease, legal issues, or general information on asbestos issues. Speakers include Union, Clinical Practice  Nurse - Mary Ross-Heazlewood (Gippsland Palliative Care  Consortium), Andrew Dimsey (Maurice Blackburn Lawyers) and Stephen  Plunkett (Slater and Gordon Lawyers)		 GARDS Office
41 Monash St, Newborough
Wednesday 28th 4.30-6.30pm AEU Asbestos in Education AEU Office
112 Trennery Cres, Abbotsford
Thursday 29th 10am GARDS Morning Tea
Come in for a chat and a cuppa.
Gold coin donation to assist GARDS		 Davies & Moller Chemists 
Pharmacies at:
13 Tarwin Street and
239 Princes Way, Morwell
Friday 30th 11am AsbestosWise Commemoration Ceremony
CFMEU BBQ		 BMW Edge at Federation Square
Banks of Yarra River
Friday 30th 11am GARDS Asbestos Awareness Day Ecumenical Ceremony Centenary Rose Garden
Morwell

More information on events

- in Melbourne: Renata Musolino 03 9659 3571
- in Gippsland: Vicki Hamilton 0407274173 or the GARDS office: 5127 7744


What you can do:


If you are unable to attend any of these events, consider organising something at your workplace.