Asbestos waste

Learn about asbestos waste, the law and its impact on your health.

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Asbestos is a group of natural minerals found in rock. It was mined in Australia until 1983.

Asbestos was used widely in industrial and commercial applications from the late 1800s. Asbestos cement was commonly used in residential buildings from the 1940s to the 1980s. Houses built before 1990 are likely to have some asbestos cement.

Parts of buildings, cars and other products can contain asbestos, including:

  • brake pads in vehicles
  • electrical parts
  • fibre cement sheeting and piping
  • fire doors
  • roofing tiles
  • vinyl floor tiles.

For more information about materials that contain asbestos, visit the Asbestos in Victoria(opens in a new window) website.

Asbestos waste can be present in floodwater and is a hazard when cleaning up after flood. Learn more about managing waste after a flood.

Asbestos waste is also a hazard when cleaning up after fire. To learn more, visit After a fire: asbestos hazards.

Land might be contaminated by asbestos waste from:

  • previous onsite demolition
  • imported fill that was contaminated with asbestos.

Learn more about contaminated land and groundwater.

Asbestos waste and the law

The general environmental duty applies to managing asbestos waste from both households and industry.

Asbestos waste should not be disposed of in your general waste bin.

Asbestos waste that is industrial waste is pre-classified as reportable priority waste under Schedule 5 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021(opens in a new window).

The duties that apply to managing, depositing and transporting reportable priority waste are:

Duties that may apply where asbestos has contaminated land or groundwater are:

You must also get a permission to conduct certain activities involving asbestos waste from industrial sources. Permissions have conditions that must be met. The relevant permissions are:

Our role in asbestos waste

We regulate asbestos waste in Victoria, including its:

  • industrial transport – for example, by businesses, factories or licensed asbestos removalists
  • temporary storage
  • disposal.

We have a register of landfills in Victoria that accept asbestos.

Find more advice at:

Impact of asbestos on your health

Asbestos cement materials in good condition are not a health risk. This is because the asbestos fibres are bound together.

Asbestos only poses a risk to your health when you breathe in the fibres as dust. Asbestos materials that are damaged or crumbling or that have been cut, drilled or sawed can release fibres into the air.

If you breathe in asbestos dust, the fibres can get stuck in your lungs. Cancer and other serious lung conditions can develop many years after exposure.

Over time, breathing in microscopic asbestos fibres may cause:

  • lung inflammation
  • lung scarring
  • lung conditions
  • lung cancer
  • mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer.

The development of asbestos-related disease depends on many factors – for example:

  • the level and duration of your exposure to asbestos dust
  • length of time since the first exposure
  • the type of asbestos fibre
  • whether you were also exposed to tobacco smoke and other carcinogens.

For more information about the health risks of asbestos and how to protect your health when handling asbestos, visit:

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