Thursday, 2 May 2019

Western Metropolitan Region

In reply to Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (6 March 2019)

Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education)

The safety of students and school communities is of paramount concern for the Andrews Labor Government.

The Andrews Labor Government has invested $200 million to roll out the largest ever removal of asbestos from our schools. We conducted a state-wide audit of 1,712 government school sites and found high risk asbestos at 497 schools. And by March 2016 we had removed it all.

We are now delivering the next phase of our asbestos removal program, by targeting asbestos that, although not classified as high-risk, may pose a risk in the future.

This is in stark contrast to the former Liberal Government who did not allocate one cent to fund a dedicated Asbestos Removal Program. Instead the Department was forced to fund removal of Asbestos on a reactive basis, through a very small internal allocation of funds.

The Liberal’s simply slapped yellow sticks on asbestos ridden buildings and then put their heads back in the sand and hoped the problem would go away.

The Department of Education and Training is working closely with Essendon North Primary School to ensure the questions and concerns of school community members are addressed.

I have asked the Department to organise an independent investigation to understand how this matter occurred. This is already underway and I await the results of that investigation before providing further comment.

I have also asked the Department to engage an independent occupational hygienist to undertake a health risk assessment for individuals impacted by the asbestos incident. On 15 March, an initial assessment was provided to the school community, which found that individuals have has low-risk levels of asbestos exposure. This is primarily due to the relatively low level of disturbance of asbestos-containing material and the bonded nature of that material.

The Department has asked all of those who were affected by the incident to register their—or their child’s—involvement on eduSafe (that is, the Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Reporting System). By doing so, a permanent record of each individual’s involvement will be created.

Furthermore, I have asked the Department to undertake a range of works across the school. These works include:

• replacing the Grade 1 classroom (Block C) with a new relocatable building (between the hard courts and the oval as per discussions with the school)—the new building will be ready for use at the start of Term 2;

• removing the asbestos containing ceiling and window mastic and old carpet from the prep classroom and reinstating these items;

• stripping back and removing all building rubble and asbestos to make way for the new synthetic oval;

• refurbishment of the main classroom wing, and classrooms 7, 8 and 9; and

In addition, the previously planned oval upgrades have been brought forward. The oval will now be upgraded to a synthetic oval, instead of the grass oval that was previously planned. These works have been commenced and as such the oval has been closed since Tuesday, 2 April 2019. The remediation works on the oval will be completed during the school holidays with the laying of the synthetic oval to proceed in Term 2.

I understand that the school community may have concerns about these works, and the Department provided staff members on site in the weeks leading up to the school holidays to provide advice and respond to any asset concerns immediately. Department staff are also available to address concerns as works proceed. To support school staff, the Department organised Asbestos Awareness and Management training to be provided by occupational hygienists at the school with the first training delivered on 20 March 2019 and the second delivered on 4 April 2019.

I trust this information is of assistance.