When Was Asbestos Banned in Australia?

The short answer

Australia banned all forms of asbestos from 31 December 2003. From that date, manufacturing, supplying, importing, reusing and installing asbestos or asbestos-containing products became illegal across the country.

But 2003 is not the date asbestos stopped going into Australian houses. Most asbestos building products had been phased out long before the national ban. That is why the date that matters for most homeowners is not 2003 — it is about 1990.

How asbestos was phased out

Asbestos did not disappear overnight. It left the building industry in stages, broadly by fibre type and by product.

Blue asbestos (crocidolite) was the first to go. Mining of blue asbestos in Western Australia ended in the 1960s, and its use in manufactured products declined from then on.

Brown asbestos (amosite) followed, and had largely left manufacturing by the mid-1980s.

White asbestos (chrysotile) lasted the longest. It was the fibre in most asbestos cement sheeting — the "fibro" found on houses across Australia — and in many other products. Asbestos cement building products were phased out through the 1980s as manufacturers moved to cellulose-fibre alternatives. Chrysotile stayed in some non-building products, such as certain friction and gasket materials, until the national ban closed the door in 2003.

The practical result is the rule of thumb used by regulators and assessors alike: if a house was built or renovated before about 1990, assume it may contain asbestos until a survey shows otherwise.

What the dates tell you about your house

When the work was done	What to assume
Before about 1990	Asbestos is likely somewhere. Treat suspect materials as asbestos until tested.
About 1990 to 2003	Less likely, but possible — older stock, reused sheets and some imported products.
After 2003	Unlikely in building materials, though not an absolute guarantee.

Two things complicate the table.

Renovations count as much as the build date. A 1995 house with a 1985 garage moved onto the block, or a 1930s house with a 1970s bathroom, carries the asbestos risk of its oldest work. Check when each part of the building was added, not just when the house was first built.

Imported products have occasionally slipped through. Since the ban, asbestos has been found from time to time in imported goods, including some building products. It is uncommon, but it is why "built after 2003" is a strong indicator rather than a certainty.

Where asbestos turns up in older homes

Asbestos was used because it was cheap, durable and fire resistant, so it went almost everywhere. In houses built before about 1990, the usual places are:

• External wall cladding — flat and patterned fibro sheets, and imitation weatherboards.
• Eaves and soffits, even on brick and brick-veneer houses.
• Wet areas — sheeting behind bathroom and laundry tiles, and under-tile backing.
• Roofing — corrugated asbestos cement sheets, common on garages, sheds and carports.
• Floors — vinyl tiles and the backing of some sheet vinyl.
• Ceilings — textured or sprayed finishes in some houses.
• Fences and outbuildings — fibro fencing, sheds, garages and old outdoor toilets.
• Pipes and flues — stormwater, sewer vent and flue pipes, and some water pipes.
• Small items — electrical meter boards, window putty, sealants, stove splashbacks and heater surrounds.

Some houses in the ACT and parts of NSW also had loose-fill asbestos insulation blown into the roof space. That is a separate and more serious issue. NSW keeps a public register of affected properties; if you have any doubt about roof insulation in an older house, check the register and speak to a licensed assessor.

You cannot tell asbestos by looking at it. Fibro with and without asbestos looks the same. The only way to know is to have samples taken by a competent person and analysed by an accredited laboratory.

What the ban does not mean

The ban stopped new asbestos from being used. It did not require existing asbestos to be removed.

Asbestos cement in good condition, left alone, is generally considered low risk. The danger comes when it is disturbed — drilled, cut, sanded, water-blasted, broken or crushed — and fibres are released. That is why asbestos becomes urgent at exactly the moment you start work on an older house: renovating a bathroom, replacing eaves, pulling up floor coverings, or demolishing.

Before you renovate or demolish

If the house was built or renovated before about 1990, the order of work is straightforward.

1. Get a survey. A competent person inspects the building, samples suspect materials and produces a register showing what is present, where, and how much. For a demolition, the survey needs to cover the whole structure, including areas that are hard to reach.

2. Use a licensed removalist. In NSW, friable asbestos — material that can be crumbled by hand, such as some insulation and badly damaged sheeting — must be removed by a removalist holding a Class A licence. Non-friable (bonded) asbestos above small quantities generally requires at least a Class B licence. The removalist confirms which applies to your job and handles any notice to SafeWork NSW.

3. Get clearance before anything else happens. After removal, an independent inspection confirms the area is clear. Demolition or renovation should not start until clearance is issued.

4. Dispose of it properly. Asbestos waste has to be wrapped, transported and disposed of at a facility licensed to accept it. Illegal dumping carries heavy penalties, and contaminated soil is far more expensive to deal with than the original removal.

The rules on what a homeowner may remove without a licence are narrow and specific. If you are unsure whether something applies to you, check with SafeWork NSW or a licensed asbestos assessor before you start, rather than relying on something you read online — including this page.

Why it matters for demolition

A demolition contractor's licence is not an asbestos removal licence. On a pre-1990 house, asbestos is usually the first thing to plan, not the last. The survey drives the program, the removalist has to finish and clearance has to be issued before machines start, and asbestos is one of the lines that moves a demolition price the most.

Skipping the survey is the single most expensive mistake in residential demolition. A machine breaking fibro spreads fragments across the whole block and often next door, and cleaning up contaminated soil can cost many times more than removing the sheets properly would have.

If you're in Sydney, we can arrange the survey, the licensed removal and the demolition in the right order, and quote it after a site inspection.

Where to go next

• Asbestos-aware demolition — how asbestos is surveyed, removed by a separately licensed removalist and cleared before a demolition starts.
• House demolition — the full demolition process, from approvals to a level block.
• Demolition cost guide — rough price bands and the factors, including asbestos, that move them.