You can access the summary of the report here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=spla/strata/report/summary.pdf

To view or print the report, you will need Adobe Acrobat® PDF Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe.®

From 1 January 2012 there were new requirements for asbestos that lift the depth and breadth of inspection, signage, planning and documentation. All states have pre-existing asbestos requirements: therefore in most states there is an expectation of immediate compliance. While Victoria and Western Australia have not immediately adopted the new Workplce Health and Safety laws this national code will be the expected national standard to which risk asbestos is handled. Queensland is the only state with a formal grace period until 30th June 2013.

Which strata buildings must comply?
All strata buildings that contain a common property workplace built before 1st January 2004 must comply. Why this date? It may surprise you to know that while asbestos in the form of Crocidolite was phased out from 1967 asbestos in the forms including Amosite were used until late 2003 and not fully banned from use until 31st December 2003.

What are the asbestos survey requirements?
There is a requirement to survey the building area and identify all loose and friable asbestos as well as stable kinds found in building materials called Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM). ACM is found in all kinds of building materials.

What are the best steps to compliance?
Step 1. Get a survey done

Where your building was completed before 1st January 2004 (be aware of the buildings completed before 2004 and then strata titled at a later date), determine if the building is classified as a Workplace (see article below). Since Worplaces completed before 1st January 2004 are required to undertake an Asbestos Survey, obtain quotes and have the committee authorise the selected contractor to undertake the survey.

Step 2. Act on survey results

All surveys whether asbestos or ACM are found, must be kept onsite and available.

If asbestos or ACM are found you need to ensure a new compliant onsite asbestos register and Asbestos Management Plan (AMP) is provided and made available to those who might be at risk. A quality AMP will tell you all you need to know.

Important information for strata and community scheme managers
The most as risk people you deal with are your contractors. So ensure your engagement system accounts for this. Here are a few tips:
1. Inform the contractor that there is an asbestos register onsite that they must consult before conducting any work. This can be best done by including this in the engagement documentation.

2. Provide the asbestos register and AMP onsite – most people are choosing a document box with a 003 key lock.

How often must an AMP audit be updated?
If asbestos is found then the building needs to be regularly audited if the decision is to leave the ACM onsite in a stable encapsulated state rather than to remove it.

Conclusion
Asbestos is a serious health risk that must be managed. Immediate action to comply with the legislative changes is prudent. All pre-2004 buildings with common property workplaces need to comply. Compliance is simple with good quality properly experienced and trained advisors.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is Australia’s first national open access broadband network for all Australians.

Consisting of 93% fibre, 4% wireless and 3% satellite it delivers high-speed broadband to enable not only improved and faster internet access, but better services from all facets of government and commercial organisations.

The NBN is being rolled out simultaneously in metropolitan, regional and rural areas over approximately 10 years by NBN Co, which is a Government Business Enterprise like Australia Post.

The fibre is expected to pass 13 million premises when the rollout is complete. A vast number of these will be apartments and townhouse complexes – multi-dwelling units (MDUs).

NBN Co does not charge for standard in-building cabling within participating MDUs during the local network construction.

Detailed cabling designs for each MDU are created using NBN Co’s standard methods.

Most MDUs will be internally cabled to a suitable point outside each unit.

Some MDUs can be cabled as if they were single dwelling units.

The process
Prior to any street network fibre construction NBN Co undertakes the following:

•Identifies all the MDUs, the number of end user premises in each, and their addresses
•Identifies the owners corporations (or equivalent) and gains their consent to survey the MDUs including gaining access to existing floor plans where practical
•Using the survey results produces a detailed design of each MDU and selects the right combination materials to suit it in line with NBN’s defined standards
•Presents a detailed standard design, cabling plan and sample list of materials to the owners corporations (or equivalent) to gain either their consent to cable, or to refine the planned approach and resubmit to them
•Once consent has been obtained, NBN produces a ‘job pack’ for the cabling contractor to successfully complete the MDU cabling as per the agreed design.
How owners corporations can assist
Owners corporations have the opportunity to assist their members understand what’s involved. They can:

•Act as a central portal for information and enquiries about NBN and providing members with links to this article and/or the explanatory videos and brochures on the NBN Co website
•Arrange with NBN to have information sessions with guest speakers for their members.
•Provide the initial approval to conduct the cabling survey and design of the property
•Pre-register their interest with NBN Co at nbnco.com.au/mdu
For more details about the National Broadband Network initiative, just visit nbnco.com.au

A number of suppliers of green technology were in attendance, a key ‘take away’ for me was the potential savings to be made from relatively low cost/effort activities, indeed the ability to cut electricity consumption or costs for an investment of time alone was quite appealing.

If you are looking for ideas I commend Green Strata’s site to you:

http://www.greenstrata.com.au/

The link to the legislation is: http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/W/WorkHSA11.pdf

A Number of fact sheets have been released covering the impact of the legislation, one link is:

http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/whs-laws-apartment-owners-bodies-corporate.pdf