The 2016–17 year was the fourth year of full operation for the agency and another significant year in delivering the work required by the ASEA Act and the National Strategic Plan.
Awareness
Awareness levels of the agency and its activities have been slowly building since its establishment in 2013. However, more work needs to be done to further improve awareness, according to the results of the second national survey of asbestos awareness and attitudes run in 2015–16.
In 2014, the agency commissioned the first ever national survey of awareness of and attitudes towards asbestos and the risks of exposure to asbestos, creating a baseline of statistics on which the agency could test awareness levels and attitudes at biennial intervals into the future. In line with this, the agency conducted a benchmark national survey in May 2016 which showed that awareness levels have plateaued and in some places gone backwards leaving the agency with more work to do in certain sectors like the young do-it-yourself home renovators and young tradespeople.
The results of the 2016 national survey and comparisons to the 2014 baseline survey were published on the agency website in September 2016 and presented to the agency’s 3rd International Conference on Asbestos Awareness and Management in Adelaide in November 2016. The agency will conduct another benchmark national survey in the 2017–18 reporting year for comparison to the 2014 and 2016 years results to determine ongoing attitudes and awareness levels, as well as to focus awareness activities.
Trends in National Asbestos Exposure Register
The number of people registering their details on the National Asbestos Exposure Register (NAER) continues to increase each year of operation, with the total number of registrations reaching 5776 from June 2013 to 30 June 2017. The agency believes the annual increases are a result of better awareness of the register in the Australian community.
At 77 per cent to 23 per cent for male to female registrations respectively, the reporting gap has increased compared to the previous financial year. This is reflected by a large number of registrations from male dominated industries such as electrician, plumber and building/construction.
The occupational to non-occupational ratio has widened at 70 per cent to 30 per cent respectively; compared with approximately 64 per cent to 36 per cent n the previous financial year. This reflects a high incidence of reporting driven by employer referrals, which represent 31 per cent of all registrations compared to 27 per cent in the previous financial year.
Workplace exposure reported by registrants of less than 20 years of age was significantly up compared to the previous year as it was for the 20 to 49 age ranges. There are no clear reasons for this increase.
During this reporting period 40 registrants indicated they had been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. Some of them reported having been diagnosed with more than one disease. In 81 per cent of cases it was reported the disease was the result of workplace activity. Pleural plaques were the most reported disease.
