What is the loose-fill asbestos taskforce and what does it do?
​
If you live in Australia and own property there, you may have heard of the loose-fill asbestos taskforce. You may not know what this taskforce is or what it does, however, nor what the ramifications of it may be for you if you think you have loose-fill asbestos in your home.
What is the loose-fill asbestos taskforce? -- This is a governmental agency that was set up to monitor homes, stores and offices that may have had loose-fill asbestos used in the building materials when it was built.
When set up it was tasked with certain jobs. Jobs that ensure the taskforce deals with buildings that may have loose-fill asbestos still in them, and deals with them in a safe and appropriate manner.
What is the best way to deal with loose-fill asbestos? -- The taskforce has several guidelines that it recommends you follow when dealing with possible loose-fill asbestos contamination.
The first one is to make sure you have your building properly tested for asbestos by a licensed testing company. If the test comes back positive, then they recommend you move to the next step.
The Voluntary Purchase and Demolition Program -- While the taskforce cannot force you to sell your property to them, this is actually what they recommend.
This is because demolition of property that is found to be contaminated with loose-fill asbestos is the best way to deal with the health hazard.
If you sell your property to the taskforce, they will pay you the market value and will then get to work to demolish the property in the safest manner possible.
Once demolished, every part of the home will be disposed of correctly so that the loose-fill asbestos does not contaminate any other area of the neighborhood or the homes, shops or offices around it. Click on loose-fill asbestos taskforce for more details.