The Asbestos Council of Victoria (ACV/GARDS) have proposed to erect a memorial sculpture and mural at the Moe Botanic Gardens to commemorate the workers who have died as a result of asbestos exposure in the Latrobe Valley.
GARDS is a non-profit charity and voluntary community based advocacy organisation dedicated to helping victims of Asbestos and Silicosis, their families and the community.
As well as working to raise the level of asbestos and silicosis awareness in the community, industry and at all levels of government, they provide community education and support programs to the general public, community groups, workplaces, TAFES and Universities.
Thousands of people have died of asbestos-related illnesses in the Latrobe Valley since the power industry began. Although the adverse health effects of asbestos were noted as early as 1899 and the lethality of asbestos recognised by governments in Britain and the United States, the dangers of asbestos only became widely known in Australia in the 1970s.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the SEC was informed of the dangers of exposure to asbestos dust in its power stations, but the information was widely disregarded by the authorities. A former SEC employee at Yallourn power station noted that in the 1960s ‘you could walk into “A” station, and you couldn’t see the other end of the boilers.’
Australia banned the use of asbestos in 2003, but the use of asbestos in the power stations of the Latrobe Valley has contributed to the development of asbestos-related disease in thousands of people. Asbestos-related illnesses have affected not only workers’ families but also the whole community.
The GARDS memorial sculpture is designed to depict a power worker with his young daughter to recognise that asbestos-related diseases did not, and do not, just impact workers, but can affect their whole families too.
A mural designed to complement the memorial sculpture will be accompanied by an interpretive panel. The mural will depict workers leaving their workplaces, against a background of the five current and former power stations in the Latrobe Valley: Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B, Morwell, Yallourn and Hazelwood.
The stories of these Latrobe Valley workers remain largely untold, but many became ill or died as a result of asbestos-related diseases.
Join GARDS and help make this memorial dream a reality. For details, please visit https://gards.org/memorial-fundraiser/. All donations will be recognised on a wall/plaque. If you need any further details, please contact Vicki Hamilton ([email protected]) or the GARDS office ([email protected]).
Read more: GARDS Memorial prospectus 2026