Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency Bill 2013
Information about the Inquiry
On 21 March 2013 the Senate referred the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency Bill 2013 for inquiry and report.
The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency Bill would provide for the establishment of a national agency, known as the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (the Agency) as recommended by the Asbestos Management Review Report June 2012.
Asbestos regulation currently spans multiple areas of government, including health, environment, urban planning and workplace health and safety. The involvement of multiple governments across these diverse areas means that efforts to address asbestos issues have been fragmented and duplicative. In 2010 the Australian Government established the Asbestos Management Review to make recommendations for the development of a national strategic plan to improve asbestos management and awareness in Australia. The Review report was released in August 2012 and made 12 recommendations. In addition to recommendations on the structure and content of a national strategic plan, the review also recommended the establishment of a new national body to administer that plan. The bill provides that the agency would:
a) encourage, coordinate, monitor and report on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan;
b) review and amend the National Strategic Plan as required by the National Strategic Plan or at the request of the Minister;
c) publish and promote the National Strategic Plan;
d) provide advice to the Minister about asbestos safety, if requested to do so by the Minister;
e) liaise with Commonwealth, State, Territory and local and other governments, agencies or bodies about the implementation, review or amendment of the National Strategic Plan; or asbestos safety; and
f) commission, monitor and promote research about asbestos safety.
The Agency would comprise a CEO and Staff. The CEO would manage the Agency and be responsible for the performance of its functions. The bill would also establish a council, to be known as the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council (the Council), which will have the functions of providing advice to the CEO and Minister. It would consist of: a Chair; one member representing the Commonwealth; two members representing state, territory and local governments; and four other members appointed by the Minister.
Submissions should be received by 15 April 2013. The reporting date is 14 May 2013.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to eewr.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3521 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5706 or by email to eewr.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia