The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA) was established 1 July 2013 as a statutory authority that provides a national focus on asbestos issues. Part of the agency’s function is to encourage, coordinate, monitor and report on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Management and Awareness (the plan).

The plan is a long-term strategy for achieving significant progress in six areas related to current asbestos issues in Australia; awareness, best practice, identification, removal, research, international leadership. These six strategies contain deliverables and outcomes that all governments are working together to achieve.

This second annual progress report follows the same principle as the inaugural progress report and outlines the work that has been reported by state, territory and Australian Government agencies throughout 2016-17 which contribute to the six strategies of the National Strategic Plan.

The report is presented in three sections. The first section is an outline of the coordination of the National Strategic Plan, including a progress assessment for 2016- 17. The second section presents supporting evidence and data, and the last section presents case studies.

There is no single source of evidence for measuring Australia’s progress in the elimination of asbestos-related disease. The information in this report is based on activities, data and case studies provided by state, territory and Australian Government agencies with a role in managing asbestos risks, and significantly shows how all governments in Australia are working towards the elimination of asbestos-related disease.

By providing the information in this format, an overall point-in-time picture of efforts to eliminate asbestos-related risk in Australia is developed. This highlights that there is an increasing trend in work being delivered, but it is difficult to demonstrate the impact.