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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 321 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

which currently have, or have had, lead-based paints applied to either the interior or the exterior? What information is being provided currently to tenants of government houses, students and teachers, and workers engaged in painting government-owned houses or schools, about the dangers associated with peeling lead paints, removal for repainting, or any other activities that may involve health risks?

MRS CARNELL: I will answer the question in two parts because, obviously, public housing and schools are handled somewhat differently by different areas of government. Lead-based paints were widely used in buildings generally in the ACT up until the early to mid 1970s. While paintwork is in a sound condition there is minimal risk to occupants. In any case, with regard to the school system, many existing surfaces have been either removed or repainted with non-leaded paints.

The condition of painted surfaces in and on the school buildings is subject to cyclical maintenance inspections by the Construction and Maintenance Management Service and they form part of the annual maintenance program. Where lead-based paint is to be removed, a strict protocol is followed by the Construction and Maintenance Management Service. With regard to that particular protocol, a booklet has been produced, and I am more than happy to provide a copy for Ms Horodny to look at.

We do not have at this stage a formal register which records schools that contain lead-based paints. During their inspection procedures CAMMS are undertaking tests to identify those sites and building services which contain lead. This will form the basis of a register for making future decisions on the extent of work involved and its priorities. While there is no blanket statement made available to the school community about lead-based paints in schools - quite seriously, at this stage we are not 100 per cent sure of the breadth of this problem, although the information is being collected - when surfaces are to be sanded or to be repainted the school community is informed as part of the protocol that I have referred to which is in this document. That is part of the CAMMS approach.

With regard to Housing Trust houses, lead-based paint was used, as it was in schools, until around about the mid-1970s, although the Housing Trust is not 100 per cent sure of the cessation date as it was well before self-government. The draft Australian standard, "Guide to Lead Paint Management for Dwellings and Public Buildings", in this booklet was produced by the Standards Association of Australia in December 1995. The draft is being used by ACT Housing and ACT Works and Commercial Services as a standard procedure for treating affected public housing. This includes an individual assessment of treatment for each dwelling, the need for relocation of tenants under certain circumstances, and even advice to neighbours.

From 1995-96 ACT Housing has developed strategic management plans to repaint or reclad affected dwellings. This will be a long-term program because of the cost and the number of dwellings involved. WorkCover, Environmental Health and the Environmental Protection Agency have been consulted and have endorsed this plan. Tenants are kept fully informed as their house is identified for inclusion in this program. This includes, as I have said, an ongoing approach to identifying which houses are involved and how we will deal with them. As much as I am sure that we would like a situation where we could click our fingers and make what happened before 1975 go away, I think that both the

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