Unions will use today’s International Workers' Memorial Day to call on the Federal Government to launch a national Asbestos Inquiry.
 
ACTU President Sharan Burrow said Australia still has the highest rate of recorded mesothelioma in the world, with exposure to asbestos the only known cause of the disease.
 
“The Federal Government needs to launch an inquiry into asbestos – looking at elimination from workplaces and homes along with compensation, treatment and cure for those affected.”
 
“There needs to be an urgent improvement in asbestos regulation and tougher enforcement of laws surrounding asbestos.”
 
“Today unions across the country will be marking International Workers’ Memorial Day, reflecting on the 2 million workers around the world who have died in the last 12 months.”

“Workers' Memorial Day is an opportunity for all Australians to consider how important it is to have healthy and safe workplaces.

"It is also a day for thinking about the families who have lost a loved one and the children who have lost a parent through an unnecessary workplace accident or an industrial disease,” said Ms Burrow.

It is estimated that around 6,700 Australians die every year from a workplace injury or work-induced disease.

In Victoria alone, six workers have already lost their lives in a traumatic workplace incident so far this year. 

National figures show a 10% rise over the past five years in the number of workplace fatalities in Australia that are covered by compensation.

This year unions will focus on raising awareness of the risks posed to Australian workers by occupational cancers – cancers caused or contributed to by work.

Approximately 1.5 million Australian workers may currently be exposed to occupational carcinogens.