The AMWU has backed calls by a leading asbestos researcher, to set up a register of contaminated NSW landfill sites.

Paul Bastian, the AMWU National President, said that unions and asbestos victims groups would back the proposal of Professor Nico van Zandwijk, the inaugural asbestos diseases research institute director at the Bernie Banton Centre.

Mr Bastian re-iterated the wider call for a National Asbestos Authority to be established.

“The landfill issue which Professor van Zandwijk has raised is only one part of the problem.

“1 in every 3 homes built from 1940 to 1980 contains asbestos, which is more than 1 million homes.

“There is significant risk of exposure as people carry out DIY home renovations without being aware of the dangers,” Mr Bastian said.

“Asbestos material is also sitting in situ in schools and other public buildings, right across Australia.

Mr Bastian said that unions and community groups, including the Australian Cancer Council had raised the idea of a National Asbestos Authority in a public forum in June this year.

Unions and the Cancer Council have written to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and are awaiting a response.

“Such an Authority should be charged with conducting a National Audit of asbestos contaminated buildings and public locations, and establishing a register and a system for removing or securing asbestos.”

As Professor van Zandwijk told the Sydney Morning Herald on the 9th of October:

''We don't know the level of potential exposure and we need to develop a greater understanding. It is a matter of increasing awareness and developing a register of where this is happening.''