Inquiry into the extent, regulation and management of PFAS - Final Report
Hi Members,
Shared below is information that been received from the Australian Academy of Science – National Committee for Chemistry, which RACI President Prof. Amanda Ellis is a member of. Please see for your information:
The final report from the Select Committee on PFAS regarding the inquiry into the extent, regulation and management of PFAS has been released.
Please see the report here: Tabled documents | Document 13852
The Academy's submission (found here) recommended:
- Establishing a coordinated national monitoring program to determine the extent of environmental PFAS contamination across Australia, which should inform enforceable standards to strengthen the regulation of PFAS.
- Creating a national human biomonitoring program to monitor bioaccumulation of PFAS and other Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) to further understanding of the health risks associated with PFAS and sources of exposure.
- Expanding our understanding of PFAS and the concentrations that require clinical care, developing methods to detect and monitor PFAS contamination, and developing replacements for PFAS in current industrial processes and products by strengthening the scientific evidence base.
- Transparent, up-to-date and reliable risk communication to the Australian public on PFAS contamination and its potential risks.
All of these have been included in the 47 recommendations, except for clinical care in dot point 3.
Please see below a summary of the report's recommendations:
Workplace health and safety (including compensation)
- Develop a regulatory framework for PFAS exposure in workplaces, including classification of PFAS as a ‘dangerous good’ (similar to asbestos).
- Extend worker compensation schemes to include firefighters, defence workers and emergency vehicle technicians expose to PFAS.
Environmental monitoring
- Fund a strategic and national PFAS environmental monitoring program to track levels and provide trends in data.
- Develop an online interactive (and publicly available) PFAS map with contamination locations and clean up activities.
- Establish a new fund and taskforce to support remediation of severely contaminated sites including fire stations and airports.
- Develop a national scale remediation plan and framework with associated standards to report the clean up activities and outcomes against.
First Nations
- Provide subsidized and culturally appropriate PFAS blood testing, cancer screening, and health monitoring for Wreck Bay residents, focusing primarily on children and pregnant women.
- Improve access to drinking water and traditional food sources.
- Partner with first nations communities for ongoing management and restoration of PFAS affected lands and waterways.
Health and Research
- Update Australian drinking water guidelines by October 2026 (NHMRC) and review the tolerable daily intakes for PFAS.
- Design a national and longitudinal chemicals biomonitoring program focusing on children and pregnant women, and in some cases using leftover blood samples from pathology labs.
- Commission research into the health impacts of PFAS exposure, particularly for First nations communities (Wreck Bay focus)
- Review enHealth PFAS guidance to assess dose dependent risks and update the guidance accordingly.
Waste management
- Fast track regulatory reform and remove PFAS from food packaging and encourage a ‘toxic-free’ packaging industry.
- Design and develop a strategy to reduce PFAS in textiles, clothing, floor coverings and furniture (beginning at import pathways and methods of disposal).
Policy
- Priority legislative and policy mechanisms to enforce a schedule 7 listing of PFAS chemicals covering detection, disclosure and monitoring.
- Ratify Stockholm Convention listings for PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS.
- Design and develop a standardised approach to domestic chemical classification and regulatory changes for new hazard classifications.
- Provide data transparency in publicly available maps of contamination hotspots and cleanup activities.
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