2.4 Government response to the inquiry

Concerns beyond Fiskville

Human exposure to PFAS and the remediation of affected sites has become the focus of national attention.

Currently, more than 90 sites across Australia are being investigated for contamination, including more than 15 in Victoria.

In Victoria, the presence of PFAS on and around the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base East Sale in Victoria has been a focus of concern. In August 2018 the Department of Defence completed a detailed environmental investigation and is now focusing efforts to manage PFAS contamination at the site.7

In December 2018 the Parliament of Australia’s Joint Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade released a report on PFAS contamination in and around defence bases, making a number of recommendations to improve the Australian Government’s response to PFAS contamination.8

The Department of Defence is undertaking a national program to review, investigate and implement a comprehensive approach to manage the impacts of PFAS on and near bases around Australia.9

Airservices Australia is also conducting a National PFAS Management Program at major airports where it has provided aviation fire and rescue services using firefighting foam that contained PFAS. Its program has identified PFAS contamination at several airports across Australia.10

Concern over human exposure to PFAS has been expressed globally. The New Zealand Defence Force has been testing defence bases and surrounding properties for PFAS to determine the levels of contamination and exposure from firefighting foams.11 Amid national concern over the health consequences of PFAS exposure through drinking water, the United States Environmental Protection Authority has developed a national plan to manage the risks posed by PFAS, which includes developing toxicity values and a proposal to monitor drinking water nationally.12

The government response to the inquiry was tabled in Parliament on 24 November 2016.13 The government supported all the inquiry recommendations in full, in principle, or in part. The government implementation of May 2017 outlines the 33 government commitments made against the inquiry recommendations, the agency responsible for implementing each commitment, and completion or expected completion dates for some commitments. Some commitments refer to activity already undertaken or ongoing at the time of the government response to address those elements of the recommendation supported by the government.

7 Refer to www.defence.gov.au/Environment/PFAS/EastSale/. 8 Available at www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/InquiryintoPFAS/Rep ort_1. 9 Refer to www.defence.gov.au/Environment/PFAS/. 10 Refer to www.airservicesaustralia.com/environment/national-pfas-management-program/. 11 Refer to www.mfe.govt.nz/land/pfas-and-poly-fluoroalkyl-substances/latest-updates. 12 Available at www.epa.gov/pfas/epas-pfas-action-plan. 13 Available at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/enrrdc/article/3215.