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What is loose-fill asbestos, and how do I know if my home is on the register?

Loose-fill asbestos is raw asbestos that has been crushed into a fine state and installed in ceiling spaces, and during the 1960s and 1970s it went into some homes in Australia. NSW and the ACT each keep a register that names individual homes.

A year line from 1900 to today. Lead paint: as a rule of thumb, Lead Alert says the lead content of paint was limited to 1 per cent by 1970, and SA Health puts homes built before the mid-1970s most at risk; asbestos products, phased out by 1990 and banned from 31 December 2003; loose-fill asbestos insulation, installed in some homes in the 1960s and 1970s. Four renovation jobs below, with a dot where an official source says the job disturbs lead paint or asbestos products. up to 50 per cent lead, homes built before 19501% by 1970, as a rule of thumbred-lead primer into the 1970sLead paintSA Health: mid-1970s Asbestos productsphased out by 1990asbestossafety.gov.au: homes built or renovated before 1990 might contain it Loose-fill: the 1960s and 1970s banned from 31 December 2003 1900191019201930194019501960197019801990200020102020 today What the job disturbsLead paintAsbestos productsSandingLead Alert: dry sanding releases lead-rich dust into the homeQueensland: do not saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materialsDrillingasbestossafety.gov.au: hand tools only, dust captured, for a small hole in asbestos-cement sheetCutting sheetingasbestossafety.gov.au: hand tools only, dust captured, for a small hole in asbestos-cement sheetDemolishingSA Health: renovating, like removing walls, can mobilise lead paint dustasbestossafety.gov.au: asbestos can be disturbed during renovation or demolition
Open the year line, newest decade first
  1. TodayNewest at the top: scroll to your home's decade
  2. 2020s
  3. 2010s
  4. 2000sAsbestos banned from 31 December 2003
  5. 1990s
  6. 1980sAsbestos products phased out by 1990
  7. 1970sLead content limited to 1 per cent by 1970; SA Health: mid-1970s
  8. 1960sLoose-fill asbestos in some homes, 1960s and 1970s
  9. 1950s
  10. 1940sPaint up to 50 per cent lead before 1950
  11. 1930s
  12. 1920s
  13. 1910s
  14. 1900s
  • Lead paint: as a rule of thumb, Lead Alert says paint’s lead content was limited to 1 per cent by 1970, and SA Health puts homes built before the mid-1970s most at risk.
  • Asbestos products: phased out by 1990; a home built or renovated before 1990 might contain it.
  • Hard stop: banned across Australia since December 2003; the national ban took effect on 31 December 2003.
  • Loose-fill asbestos: installed in some homes in the 1960s and 1970s; NSW asks anyone working on or in a pre-1980 home to check for it before starting or quoting work.

What the job disturbs

  • Sanding: Lead Alert says dry sanding releases lead-rich dust into the home; Queensland says not to saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.
  • Drilling: for a small hole in asbestos-cement sheet, the national agency allows hand tools only, with the dust caught at its source and protective equipment worn.
  • Cutting sheeting: asbestossafety.gov.au allows only hand tools to cut a small hole in an asbestos-cement sheet, with the dust captured at its source and protective equipment worn.
  • Demolishing: SA Health names removing walls for lead dust; asbestossafety.gov.au names renovation and demolition damage for asbestos.
  • Choose your home's decade: each year on the line is a link that lights its column.
  • A dot under a column means an official source names that job as disturbing that material.
  • Lead paint: as a rule of thumb, Lead Alert says the lead content of paint was limited to 1 per cent by 1970, but homes built after 1970 might still contain paint with more than 1 per cent lead.
  • SA Health puts homes built before the mid-1970s, particularly before 1940, most at risk of lead paint, and asks owners of a home built before 1980 to follow its six-step guide when renovating, restoring or repainting.
  • Calcium plumbate in imported metal roofing paints ran well into the 1980s, Lead Alert says.
  • asbestossafety.gov.au: products were phased out by 1990 and banned in 2003; a home built or renovated before 1990 might contain asbestos.
  • The 31 December 2003 ban took effect nationally, Safe Work Australia says.
  • Loose-fill asbestos went into some homes in the 1960s and 1970s; NSW keeps a register of homes that NSW Fair Trading has confirmed contain it.
  • Job dots rest on Lead Alert and SA Health for lead dust, Queensland's renovating page for sanding asbestos, and asbestossafety.gov.au for cutting, drilling and demolition.

What loose-fill asbestos is

Loose-fill asbestos is raw asbestos that has been crushed into a fine state and installed in ceiling spaces. NSW’s pages describe it as friable, meaning it can be crushed or made into powder, and they trace the material to the 1960s and 1970s, when it was installed in some residential and commercial premises in Australia. One company, which traded in the ACT as Mr Fluffy, was the main installer.

It went into an unknown number of pre-1980s NSW homes as ceiling insulation, and NSW’s page for work in pre-1980 built homes says it is likely that there may be unidentified homes that contain it. It is also easy to mistake for something else: other products have the appearance of it, and in some roof spaces the insulation has been found underneath synthetic mineral fibre batts.

The hazard does not stay in the ceiling. Over time, hazardous airborne material can move from the ceiling into other areas such as wall cavities, under floor spaces, cupboards, heating and cooling ducts and vents, living areas and bedrooms, and the fibres can become airborne and be breathed in or ingested, which can cause health risks. The same page says loose-fill asbestos insulation can be dangerous to your health.

The insulation is also hard to remove. NSW’s pages record that earlier experience in NSW and the ACT demonstrated that simply removing loose-fill asbestos from a ceiling cavity does not remove the enduring hazard, and that the NSW Government has determined that demolition, site remediation and disposal are the best way to ensure the health and safety of the NSW community. WorkSafe ACT’s guidance for homes built before 1990 allows that a small number of ACT homes may still hold the insulation, in the roof cavity, the wall cavities or the sub-floor space.

The two registers side by side

NSW’s Loose-fill Asbestos Insulation register is a record of homes in NSW that have tested positive and been confirmed by NSW Fair Trading to contain loose-fill asbestos, and the Home Building Act 1989 requires the NSW Government to maintain it. The ACT’s is the Affected Residential Premises Register: “a Register of known residential premises in Canberra that are affected by loose fill asbestos insulation”, in the ACT Government’s words.

The ACT and NSW registers, from each government’s own page
QuestionACTNSW
What it holds Known residential premises in Canberra, on the government’s own register. The list of affected properties includes the homes that have contained the insulation, and most of the affected buildings on those properties have been demolished. A record of homes that have tested positive and been confirmed by NSW Fair Trading to contain the insulation. Properties with any other form of asbestos are not listed.
Who keeps it The ACT Government’s Loose Fill Asbestos Coordination team, on its own site. The NSW Government, as the Home Building Act 1989 requires, with the listings confirmed by NSW Fair Trading.
How a reader searches it Search the register, or the complete list of affected properties, which includes all known residential properties in Canberra that contain, or have contained, the insulation. By street address: number, street name and suburb. Start typing the address, select one of the suggested addresses, and the results show whether the property is a match.
What takes it off Deregistration: a property can be removed from the register once it meets the deregistration requirements. Demolition and land remediation, confirmed by a clearance certificate, after which the local council is told the site has been remediated.
The sign at the property WorkSafe ACT says a warning sign has to be displayed at residential premises that have loose-fill asbestos insulation. Once an address is added to the register, the property must display a warning sign, and NSW’s pages put it on the main switchboard.

Side by side, the two lists are not built the same way. NSW’s register only identifies properties that have tested positive for loose-fill asbestos insulation, so a search that comes back empty is not a clearance: the register will only identify those properties that previously registered for testing with NSW Fair Trading and tested positive, and the same page suggests engaging a licensed asbestos assessor to inspect the property where there is concern. The ACT’s published record is wider: its list includes all known residential properties in Canberra that contain, or have contained, the insulation, and most of the affected buildings on those properties have been demolished.

A NSW address gets onto the register after verification, not after a suspicion. The register page explains that the Home Building Regulation 2014 requires a licensed asbestos assessor to attend the premises and complete an investigation, and that a NATA accredited laboratory must then confirm the sample contains the insulation. NSW Fair Trading can also add an address where there is substantial evidence the insulation is present, and when a property is added, only its address is provided.

NSW’s page gives the reason the addresses are published: the public release of a property’s address lets emergency services, tradespeople, councils and the broader community know whether a particular property is affected.

A listing travels with the property. In NSW, a listed address is a material fact that a property manager or private landlord must disclose to prospective tenants, and a section 10.7 certificate must be included in the contract when the property is sold, which alerts potential buyers that it is affected. Confirmed homes in NSW can enter the Loose-fill Asbestos Program, and NSW’s pages are direct about the alternative: the only way to completely remove loose-fill asbestos insulation in the home, they say, is through demolition of the building and remediation of the land.

In the ACT, tenancy moves with the register too. Tenants and landlords can end a residential tenancy agreement if the property is affected by the insulation, which the ACT’s homeowner and occupier responsibilities page sets out. A separate ACT notice, the updated Asbestos Advice Notice, now covers every home built in 1990 or earlier, must be handed to new owners or lessees in tenancy agreements and when a residence changes hands, and came into effect on 1 July 2023.

Checking a home against a register

If a renovation is in front of you and the home may hold the insulation, the checks run in this order. First, try the register: NSW’s testing page says that if you are concerned your property may contain loose-fill asbestos, you can check whether the address has already been tested and found to have it. The search is open to anyone, and it works on the street address, the number, street name and suburb.

A search that finds nothing is not a clearance, and NSW’s own pages say so: if a property does not appear on the register, that does not mean it is free of the insulation, because the register identifies only the properties that registered for testing with NSW Fair Trading and tested positive. Where there is concern, the page suggests engaging a licensed asbestos assessor to inspect the property.

Identification itself takes a test, not a look. NSW’s testing page says loose-fill asbestos cannot be confirmed by a visual inspection because other types of insulation look similar, so a sample of the material needs to be taken by a licensed asbestos assessor and tested by an accredited laboratory. Homeowners can arrange that private sampling themselves, and the same page says NSW Fair Trading does not recommend any untrained or unqualified person entering the roof cavity to take a sample.

Until a test settles it, the state environment regulator’s advice for a home where the insulation may be in the ceiling is to keep out: the NSW Environment Protection Authority says not to enter the ceiling space if you think there may be loose-fill asbestos up there, and to contact a licensed asbestos assessor; owners waiting on a private test, it says, should avoid the ceiling space and drilling into walls in the meantime.

If a test does confirm the insulation, timing matters: NSW’s testing page says Service NSW should be contacted immediately to find out about the options available, and NSW’s pages give the loose-fill asbestos program’s number as 13 77 88.

In the ACT, the instruction is simpler: WorkSafe ACT says to contact Access Canberra if you suspect your home may contain loose fill asbestos insulation.

Before you renovate a home that may hold loose-fill

The register is a starting point, not a substitute for caution. NSW’s guidance for working in pre-1980 built homes asks builders, contractors and inspectors working on or in a pre-1980 home to check whether loose-fill asbestos insulation is present before starting work or quoting for it, with the warning that the register names only the properties that registered for testing with NSW Fair Trading and tested positive.

Where the insulation is known to be present, the home is treated as restricted space. On NSW’s pages, a worker should not enter the sub-floor, wall cavities or roof space of a home affected by loose-fill asbestos insulation unless they are a Class A licensed asbestos removalist or a licensed asbestos assessor, and the guidance asks for care for anyone accessing the roof space of a home where it might be present. Loose-fill homes also carry their sign: once an address joins the register, the property must display a warning sign at the main switchboard.

Some tools stay off the job. The Queensland asbestos site says not to saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials. The national agency’s maintenance guidance is just as direct: never clean an asbestos cement roof, or any other asbestos material, with high-pressure water or an abrasive process such as scrubbing or grinding, because it can spread contamination widely and leave an expensive clean-up.

The official minimumThe Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency puts the working rule in one sentence: “It is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and for loose-fill the law in the ACT and New South Wales 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 WorkSafe ACT lists disturbing loose-fill insulation among the work that is not minor. In New South Wales, loose-fill is friable material, and a removalist holding a Class A licence must take out any amount of friable material. In NSW, if material that may contain asbestos does come out of a home, the Environment Protection Authority is specific that asbestos waste can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it.

Loose-fill insulation is not the only thing an older home can hold: the same national agency writes its household guidance for homes built or renovated before 1990, which might contain asbestos. Could my house have asbestos? covers the other products and the year line, and Who may remove asbestos, by state covers the licensed work.

Asbestos: the official minimum

  • The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says: “It is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and for loose-fill the law in the ACT and New South Wales goes further, as set out under Before you renovate a home that may hold loose-fill.
  • For a major home renovation where asbestos might be present, the agency’s advice is to engage a licensed asbestos removalist.
  • Its fibres are dangerous to health once they are released into the air and breathed in, the agency says.

Never do these to asbestos material

  • “Saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials”: one of the things Queensland’s renovating page says not to do.
  • Clean it with high-pressure water or anything abrasive, such as scrubbing or sanding; the agency warns this can cause widespread contamination and an expensive clean-up.

All asbestos waste must go to a landfill site licensed to accept it, the agency says, and Safe Work Australia’s demolition code adds that it is moved and disposed of under your state or territory’s environment protection rules.

General information only; have a licensed assessor test before you cut.