This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Work & employment
Australia would give the national asbestos agency a new job on silica, including leading national coordination, public awareness, research, reporting and advice on silica-related disease.
Rising silicosisA serious lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust, and one of the main health problems driving the bill. and other silica-related diseases exposed the lack of urgent national coordination on workplace silica risks. The bill expands the asbestos agency into an asbestos and silica body that leads a national silica plan, tracks progress, and advises governments.
Australia already had a national Asbestos Safety and Eradication AgencyThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica. under a 2013 law, but its role was limited to asbestos even as silicosisA serious lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust, and one of the main health problems driving the bill. and other silica-related disease sharpened the need for national action on workplace dust exposure. In 2023 that gap was addressed by carving a silica measure out of the government’s wider Closing Loopholes workplace package, with the Senate passing a standalone bill to expand and rename the agency before it moved to the House of Representatives.
The main criticism was procedural, not about asbestos or silica policy: some senators argued this bill should not be split from the wider Closing Loopholes packageThe wider workplace reform bill the silica agency proposal was originally split out from, which is central to the procedural debate on this page. because cherry-picking it could delay or weaken other workplace protections. That concern was raised mainly by Labor senators backing the broader package, while other speakers treated this bill itself as non-controversial and did not mount a substantive case against its safety measures.
Senator Jacqui Lambie introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Liberal Party, Jacqui Lambie Network, Greens, some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
Did not pass
1 recorded vote before the bill stopped proceeding
Time before failure
7 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
Australia would give the national asbestos agency a new job on silica, including leading national coordination, public awareness, research, reporting and advice on silica-related disease.
Australia would set up a separate national silica plan aimed at preventing harmful silica dust exposure at work, improving research and national data, and supporting people affected by silica-related disease.
The renamed asbestos and silica agency would have to publish yearly progress reports on both the asbestos plan and the silica plan, giving ministers and the public a regular national snapshot.
The agency’s chief executive could ask people and organisations for necessary information, including some personal information, and other secrecy laws would not block them from sharing it if they choose to.
The advisory council would add more worker and employer voices, require a relevant expert, and let people with direct experience of asbestos or silica disease and their families be appointed.
The increase in silicosis and other silica-related diseases is deeply concerning and has raised the need for urgent coordinated national action to reduce rates of silica-related diseases and to support affected workers and their families. This Bill would expand the functions of the well-respected ASEA to include coordinating action on silica safety and silica-related diseases. This would include developing, promoting and reporting on a Silica National Strategic Plan which will coordinate and track the progress of jurisdictions against nationally agreed targets. ASEA would be renamed the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (Agency) to reflect these changes. The renamed Agency’s functions will include responsibility for coordination, awareness raising, research, reporting and providing advice to the government on silica.Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) explanatory memorandum
New section 5B ‘Silica National Strategic Plan’ would be similar to the definition of the Asbestos National Strategic Plan in new section 5A. The plan would aim to eliminate silica-related diseases by preventing exposure to respirable crystalline silica and supporting workers and others who are affected by silica-related diseases. New paragraph 5B(1)(b) would set out the matters which must be addressed in the plan, including eliminating or minimising exposure to respirable crystalline silica in workplaces, and improving research and national data.Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) explanatory memorandum
Item 18 would insert new section 8A and require the Agency to report on both asbestos and silica national strategic plans. This would be a key part of the Agency’s coordination function providing a national snapshot on progress to the relevant Commonwealth and State and Territory ministers.Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) explanatory memorandum
New subsection 14A(6) would provide that a person may disclose information to the Agency in response to a request despite anything in a law of the Commonwealth (other than the proposed ASSEA Act) or a law of a State or Territory. This means a non-disclosure provision in other legislation that would otherwise prevent information being disclosed to the Agency, does not prevent its disclosure. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure information necessary to support the Agency’s research, data and reporting functions can be collected. Silica issues are complex and require coordination and information sharing across portfolios as well as jurisdictions. This amendment is intended to facilitate information sharing between government agencies and bodies. New section 14A is framed broadly to provide flexibility for the future. For example, ASEA is very cooperative and in the future the Agency may form partnerships with non-Governmental organisations and request information from such bodies as well.Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) explanatory memorandum
The Bill would also expand the membership of the current Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council (ASEC) to include appropriate representation from employee and employer representatives and an expert in asbestos or silica-related matters. Eligibility would be broadened to allow for persons with lived experience to be appointed to the Council. ASEC would be renamed the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Council to reflect these changes.Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) explanatory memorandum
Context
Australia already had a national Asbestos Safety and Eradication AgencyThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica. under a 2013 law, but its role was limited to asbestos even as silicosisA serious lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust, and one of the main health problems driving the bill. and other silica-related disease sharpened the need for national action on workplace dust exposure. In 2023 that gap was addressed by carving a silica measure out of the government’s wider Closing Loopholes workplace package, with the Senate passing a standalone bill to expand and rename the agency before it moved to the House of Representatives.
National asbestos agency is created with an asbestos-only role
The 2013 ASEAThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica. Act set up the Asbestos Safety and Eradication AgencyThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica., but the explanatory memorandum says its functions were confined to asbestos.
Australian Parliament House ↗Silicosis and other silica-related disease expose a national gap
The bill was introduced because rising silica-related disease showed there was no urgent national body coordinating prevention, research, data and advice on workplace silica risks.
User-supplied bill background ↗Standalone silica agency bill is introduced in the Senate
Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock introduced the bill to broaden the asbestos agency’s functions beyond asbestos and start a separate national silica plan.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Senate debate frames the bill as part of the Closing Loopholes packageThe wider workplace reform bill the silica agency proposal was originally split out from, which is central to the procedural debate on this page.
During second reading debate, senators said this bill split out one of the more urgent measures from the government’s wider Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023.
Hansard ↗Senate passes the bill
The Senate agreed to the bill at third reading, sending the proposal forward as a separate measure rather than leaving it bundled inside the larger industrial relations package.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Bill moves to the House of Representatives
The bill was introduced and read a first time in the House, showing the Senate-backed silica agency proposal had progressed beyond the upper chamber.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
Key criticism
The main criticism was procedural, not about asbestos or silica policy: some senators argued this bill should not be split from the wider Closing Loopholes packageThe wider workplace reform bill the silica agency proposal was originally split out from, which is central to the procedural debate on this page. because cherry-picking it could delay or weaken other workplace protections. That concern was raised mainly by Labor senators backing the broader package, while other speakers treated this bill itself as non-controversial and did not mount a substantive case against its safety measures.
No significant public case against the bill’s core asbestos and silica measures is recorded so far.
Should not be separated from wider workplace reforms
The strongest objection was that passing this bill on its own would leave out other parts of the government’s workplace package, including measures on wage theft, industrial manslaughter and labour hire, and would let the Senate cherry-pick the least controversial piece. This was a criticism of the bill being split off and advanced separately, rather than a criticism of extending the agency’s role to silica.
Further sources
Votes
Other recorded votes grouped by chamber. Expand a vote to see the party breakdown.
House
Defeated 60 to 75. Support came from Liberal Party, Nationals, Centre Alliance, and minor parties and independents. Opposition came from Labor and Greens. Minor-party and independent votes were split.
The motion was defeated, so the House did not agree to fast-track debate on the wider bill through this procedural path.
This list includes amendment votes, procedural votes and votes on the bill itself.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Jacqui Lambie supports the bill and says Australia cannot wait to extend the agency's work to silica because hundreds of thousands of workers are exposed and the harm is already serious.
Read in Hansard ↗Watt says the government will not support splitting off this bill from the wider workplace package, because that would leave out other protections such as wage theft, industrial manslaughter and labour hire loopholes.
Read in Hansard ↗Pocock says the Greens support the bill because it expands the Asbestos Safety and Eradication AgencyThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica. to coordinate silica safety work and develop a national strategic plan.
Read in Hansard ↗Pocock supports the bill and says elements of it should be passed now because they have broad support and an earlier start date than parts of the wider omnibus package.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 1 support · 1 oppose
“Splitting this bill is an early Christmas present for the Minerals Council, Qantas and others like them. By passing this bill in full, we'll be standing up to those big corporate interests on behalf of working families across the country.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“But what I want to focus on in these brief remarks are the reasons why the government does not support splitting the bills in the way that's being proposed.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
3 speakers · 3 support
“On that basis, along with the coalition, along with the crossbench, we are prepared to be constructive in relation to the government's omnibus bill and pass today those elements of the bill that do deliver for Australian workers, that do deliver for those suffering from or who have been victims of family and domestic violence, that do deliver for those who were employed by a larger business but through no fault of their own are now employed by a smaller business and may not therefore be able to get a redundancy payment, that will deliver for those in relation to the asbestos authority, now taking on the remit for silica related diseases.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“They were urging the government to pass these bills and to support these bills. So there is wide support for the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) Bill 2023. It's disappointing that it was included as part of the overall omnibus bill, because it is a necessary examination of those issues raised by the Master Builders, and its inclusion in the omnibus bill is potentially delaying the commencement of the provisions in the legislation before the Senate today.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The other provisions in the bill, the parts of the omnibus bill that have been split out, very sensibly by the crossbench today, deal with matters that are completely unrelated to defending the union movement: giving the union movement new power, giving the union movement new powers of entry to workplaces in this country, giving the union movement new access via chain agreements to training levies and health and safety levies.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 support
“The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency) Bill 2023 will broaden that agency's functions to include coordinating action on silica safety and silica related diseases. That's so important to so many families supporting people affected by those diseases. That will include developing and promoting a silica national strategic plan. Those are all good steps in the right direction.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
2 speakers · 3 contributions · 2 support
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Jacqui Lambie on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Second reading speech
Jacqui Lambie supports the bill and says Australia cannot wait to extend the agency's work to silica because hundreds of thousands of workers are exposed and the harm is already serious. She backs the bill as a way to improve awareness, research, national data and coordination to protect workers.
“I commend this bill to the Senate.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Jacqui Lambie supports the bill and says the Asbestos Safety and Eradication AgencyThe national body that was originally set up to coordinate Australia’s asbestos response, and is being expanded on this page to also cover silica. should be expanded to cover silica because workers are being exposed to dangerous dust and the country needs national coordination, data and advice. She argues the change is common sense and urgent because thousands of young tradies are already being harmed.
“Including silica in the government agency ASEA will help to fix this problem. This bill gives workers a right to safe and healthy workplaces by including silica in the government agency that deals with asbestos.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“But that should not stop us from passing elements of this bill which have broad support and which—as Senator Cash pointed out—have an earlier start date than many of the elements in the much larger omnibus bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
