21/09/2026
Exposure to hazardous dust is still a major NSW public health & workplace safety crisis. Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities face a disproportionately high risk due to legacy environmental contamination, geographic isolation, socioeconomic factors, & unequal housing infrastructure.
Book in for a check and/or come and see your friendly GHS GP and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner if you have concerns or wanted a yarn.
https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/injured-or-ill-people/work-related-dust-disease/services-and-support/lung-screening-service/workers-mobile-clinic-lung-bus-bookings-for-workers
Many of our families have been touched and impacted by hazardous dust.
1. Legacy Asbestos in Discrete Aboriginal Communities
* The Problem: ~61 Discrete Aboriginal Communities (DACs) across NSW situated on former missions & reserve lands. When these lands were rightfully returned to traditional owners under the ALRA 1983, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) notes that the legacy of toxic asbestos-containing housing and poorly managed demolition waste came with it.[1, 2]
* Current Risks: Many regional homes & buildings built before 1990 contain deteriorating asbestos. Remote regional towns have recently faced immediate crises; for example, in Walgett, massive stockpiles of asbestos-laden waste from infrastructure programs have sat exposed near family homes & playgrounds. [1, 2, 3]
* Intergenerational Impact: Communities like the former Baryulgil asbestos minesite still bear the scars of early deaths and lost cultural knowledge because workers and children were exposed to thick white asbestos dust decades ago. Today, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency (ASEA) utilizes satellite mapping to trace ongoing external asbestos degradation in these vulnerable areas. [1, 2, 3, 4]
2. Heavy Metal Mining Dust & Lead Poisoning
* The Broken Hill Crisis: In historic mining cities like Broken Hill, historical and ongoing operations have spread toxic lead into the surrounding soil and airborne dust. [1]
* Disproportionate Health Toll: According to data, 56% of Aboriginal children aged one to five in Broken Hill register blood lead levels above national health investigative guidelines, compared to 35% of non-Indigenous children. This environmental dust exposure causes long-term neurological damage and cognitive developmental delays in young children. [1, 2]
3. Workplace Silica Dust (Silicosis) & Tunneling
* Occupational Threats: Respirable crystalline silica (RCS)—often called the "new asbestos"—is generated through drilling, grinding, and tunneling through quartz-rich rock. [1, 2]
* Sydney Tunnels Risk: Sydney is built primarily on sandstone, which can consist of up to 90% crystalline silica. Workplace health advocates have raised major alarms over infrastructure projects where underground tunnel workers face dust levels up to 10 times the safe limit. [1, 2, 3]
* Closing the Gap Concerns: The Lung Foundation of Australia explicitly flags the overrepresentation of First People’s in occupational lung diseases and lung cancers. First People’s workers in the construction, mining, and quarrying sectors face high risk, compounded by a historically low awareness rate of early-stage silicosis in NSW. [1]
4. Climate-Induced Geogenic Dust & Environmental Burden
* Dust Storms and Bushfires: Climate change has increased the frequency of massive geogenic (earth-derived) dust storms traveling across NSW. [1, 2]
* Vulnerable Airways: According to NSW Health, Aboriginal populations are structurally more vulnerable to air pollution, which is responsible for a significant percentage of the total disease burden. Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) from dust and bushfire smoke triggers disproportionately higher rates of cardiovascular illnesses, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in First Peoples communities due to pre-existing healthcare gaps. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Mobile Clinic (Lung Bus) bookings for workersThe icare Lung Bus is a mobile clinic that visits locations across New South Wales. Workers can book free appointments directly with icare if they are no longer employed in a dusty workplace.Request an appointmentIf you have worked in a dusty environment,...
