Report on PFAS management delivered

The Chair of the PFAS Sub-Committee of the Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Mr Andrew Laming MP, has tabled the report on the Committee’s inquiry into management of PFAS contamination in and around Defence bases.

The Committee’s report makes 9 recommendations with a focus on improving the Government’s response to the PFAS contamination issue. 

The Committee has recommended that a Coordinator-General be appointed with the authority and resources necessary to more effectively coordinate the whole of Commonwealth Government effort in respect of PFAS contamination and to ensure a clear and consistent approach to community consultations and to cooperation with state, territory and local governments.

The Committee has also recommended that improvements be made to the voluntary blood testing program as a source of longitudinal information on the long term health effects of PFAS exposure and the effectiveness of measures to break PFAS exposure pathways. 

Also recommended by the Committee was that the Australian Government assist property owners and businesses in affected areas for demonstrated, quantifiable financial losses associated with PFAS contamination that has emanated from Defence bases through a compensation scheme that is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of individual circumstances.  

Chair of the PFAS Sub‑Committee, Mr Andrew Laming MP, said: “I would like to thank and pay tribute to the many members of PFAS-affected communities across the country who made submissions to the inquiry and who appeared to give evidence at public and in-camera hearings. I trust that this report honours their effort.”

The report is available from the Committee’s website