Where it turns up in a shed
The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says asbestos was used in a wide range of building materials before being phased out by 1990, and was banned in 2003. Among the places it lists outside the home are roof sheeting and ridge capping; gutters, downpipes, gables and eaves; wall cladding; electrical switchboards; water pipes and flues; and fencing, carports, garages, outhouses and garden sheds. The Western Australian Government says asbestos products were most commonly used there as flat or corrugated asbestos cement sheeting in buildings and fencing.
The agency’s advice is to check before any repairs or maintenance: have a sample tested by an asbestos professional, or to assume the material contains asbestos and take the necessary precautions.
Why the roof matters most
For a landholder, an old asbestos cement shed roof carries two risks: fibres and falls. The national agency rates asbestos cement roofs as the asbestos material in the worst condition of any still in buildings, and says weather and age make them more likely to release fibres and more brittle, to the point of breaking or collapsing, and heavy rain can wash fibres into the guttering, contaminating the area around it. It records people falling through or off asbestos roofs during maintenance.
It also says it is illegal in every state to use high pressure water spray or compressed air on asbestos materials, and illegal to use power tools, brooms or similar equipment on them in an uncontrolled way, because these release fibres into the air. Those fibres are the first risk: the agency explains that asbestos endangers health once its fibres are in the air and breathed in, because fibres trapped in the lungs can cause life-threatening diseases, mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer among them. Its householder guidance adds that asbestos materials in good condition can be maintained with paint or other sealants, enclosures and capping, and warns never to clean an asbestos cement roof, or any other asbestos material, with high-pressure water or an abrasive method such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding. For Queensland homeowners, the state’s asbestos site adds a warning not to saw, scrape or sand asbestos materials, or drill holes in them. If any work on the roof is planned, keep the second risk in view as well: people have fallen through or off asbestos roofs.
Removal
The agency’s line for householders is that it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further: in the Australian Capital Territory any removal needs a licensed removalist, unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work, and in Queensland a home owner must be trained before taking out more than 10 square metres of non-friable material, and only a removalist holding a Class A licence may remove friable material. The agency adds that getting a professional to do the job is easier, safer and often cheaper. Under environmental protection laws, it says, it is an offence to pollute the environment with asbestos waste or dispose of it unlawfully; you could be fined for putting asbestos waste in a household rubbish bin; and all asbestos waste must go to a landfill licensed to accept it.
It also explains that a tradesperson or contractor may not remove asbestos unless they hold an asbestos removal licence, or the job is less than 10 m² of non-friable (bonded) asbestos and they are trained and follow safe methods. There are two classes of licence: Class A for all types and Class B for non-friable asbestos only. That 10 m² allowance does not apply in the Australian Capital Territory (see above).
Where the waste goes, state by state
Each state and territory below is described only from its own official page. A farm shed may not fit neatly into a page written for households: Victoria, for one, treats asbestos from commercial, industrial or trade activities differently from household asbestos, so ask your state’s regulator which rules apply to yours.