Asbestos sand scare update before SA school year ends
Nearly four weeks after asbestos-contaminated sand was discovered in schools, SA Education Minister Blair Boyer has received a response to his call for a national inquiry into how it landed in Australia. SA is facing a costly cleanup bill.
In a letter seen by InDaily, the Federal Government said it would work to identify ways to strengthen the nation’s product safety framework as a consumer priority for 2026 after the asbestos sand debacle that affected more than 500 primary schools and preschools across SA in November.
Penned by Federal Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh, it responded to a letter from South Australia’s Education Minister Blair Boyer with Leigh assuring the government was “taking this matter seriously” after hundreds of affected schools were forced to remove the coloured play sand from sites across the country.
Leigh also sent a copy of the reply letter to key federal ministers including the Treasurer, Education Minister, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister and Home Affairs Minister, it outlined the results of a national Consumer Affairs Ministers’ Meeting that renewed a commitment “to a strong national consumer protection network”.
Leigh said the meeting with his state and territory counterparts saw Ministers agree to “review opportunities for enhanced national collaboration around emerging safety issues, such as the recent issue of asbestos in children’s sand products”.
More than 500 schools across SA reported the presence of potentially asbestos-contaminated coloured sand after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last month said there was concern it contained tremolite asbestos – described as “a naturally occurring asbestos” – after it was detected in some samples after laboratory testing.
Leigh said the Australian Border Force had classified sand play products as “high-risk imports” and had updated its handling advice for “these types of sand products and they are now flagged for further investigation at the border”.
“This is a critical step to ensure contaminated products can not enter the country,” the letter sent to Boyer said.
“The government’s immediate priority is to ensure that existing safeguards are rigorously enforced and that consumers are provided with accurate and practical information on what to do if they have a recalled product in their home.”
Boyer claimed it was South Australian advocacy that ensured “this issue has been made a priority for the Federal Government”.
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“The recall has led to costly specialised removal and cleaning in thousands of buildings right across the country,” Boyer said.
“With more than 500 South Australian public schools and preschools and hundreds of non-government sites affected by the recall of children’s play sand due to the potential of asbestos contamination, the cost of the cleanup is now estimated to exceed $1.5 million dollars.
“It has also likely affected hundreds of thousands of families who would have this sand in their homes, given it was readily available at Target, Kmart, Woolworths, Officeworks and a range of educational and art supply stores.”
“I hope this gives families confidence that we are doing all we can to ensure it can never happen again.”
