Chapter 3

Are We Willing to Heed the Lessons of the Past? Nanomaterials and Australia’s Asbestos Legacy

Steve Mullins and Jake Gatof

Australian trade unions have been campaigning since the 1960s against the use of asbestos and for the rights of workers who have been affected by asbestos to just compensation, with the most high profile case being the James Hardie Industries asbestos tragedy. We have witnessed the devastating fallout of an approach to safety and technology that put profits and technological gains ahead of worker safety.

Keywords

Asbestos; ACTU; ANBF; SWA; trade unions

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