Page 593 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
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changes in relation to asbestos management plans, commonly referred to as AMPs. Firstly, status flags showing whether a property requires an AMP and whether it has a compliant AMP, will be added to the Affected Residential Premises Register, which is published on the Asbestos Response Taskforce website. This change is particularly important for tradespeople and care workers as they assess the risk associated with any work they are being asked to undertake in an affected property.
The second change implements a requirement for a property’s AMP to be presented in a display case at the main entrance to an affected property. The display case will be supplied by the taskforce and assistance provided to install it if needed. Making the AMP visible and accessible in this way supports community safety by allowing all visitors to make an informed decision about their activity at the affected property. Personal information, such as name and phone numbers, can be redacted from the display copy and asbestos assessors will be required, where practicable, to exclude photographs that show any personal effects.
The third change relates to the length of time that an AMP remains valid. AMP validity, currently set at 24 months for all plans, will be set at between six and 24 months, as deemed appropriate to each individual property by the licensed asbestos assessor preparing the AMP. This flexibility in validity timeframes ensures greater currency of affected property condition reports, which supports community safety while not enforcing onerous assessment requirements on properties that do not need it.
The government acknowledges that this may mean that a homeowner will need to get a renewed AMP more regularly and incur the cost, which generally sits between $400 to $1,000, depending on the property and the number of samples taken. To address any financial hardships, homeowners can apply to the taskforce for an early release of their relocation assistance equal to the cost of obtaining the AMP. These three changes will work together to improve community safety, particularly for tradespeople, care workers, and visitors, while these aging affected properties remain in the Canberra community.
Allow me to speak now about how the bill will implement restrictions on development and building approvals. Consistent with the government’s commitment to community safety through the removal of all loose-fill asbestos affected properties from Canberra’s suburbs, restrictions are being introduced that prevent unnecessary development or building works at properties on the Affected Residential Premises Register. The bill makes a number of amendments seeking to restrict works on affected premises to those related to asbestos removal and demolition of an affected building or required to support health, safety and reasonable living conditions. This is achieved through the removal of a range of development and building exemptions and restrictions of approvals.
Some minor works not related to affected structures will remain exempt from approval, such as installing a fence or a letterbox or establishing a site shed that might be needed for demolition works. I reiterate, works that are needed to support health, safety and reasonable living conditions will be approved. Guidelines will be published to assist homeowners and industry to understand what works will be permitted, and discussion has already commenced with the Council on the Ageing to understand
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