Under the national model work health and safety rules, which are written for workplaces, any amount of friable asbestos needs a Class A licence to remove, more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos needs a Class B licence or higher, and up to 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos needs no removal licence. The Australian Capital Territory has no such allowance: there, any removal needs a licensed removalist unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work.
General informationA summary of what the national and state asbestos regulators publish, as at 8 October 2026, including SafeWork NSW, South Australia’s asbestos site and WorkSafe ACT. Not legal or safety advice about any home or job.
Dotto is not a builder, tradesperson or property manager. Dotto holds no builder’s or trade licence. It does not do, offer, contract for or arrange any building, trade or maintenance work. This is general information, not advice.
Before any of the rules below, the national agency’s own position: the national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further, as The same number, read place by place sets out. The agency adds that a professional is easier, safer and often cheaper. It also says asbestos waste may go only to a landfill site licensed to take it, and that a household rubbish bin is not that place: putting it there can bring a fine.
Two words and one number
Every rule on this page is built from the same three pieces.
Friable. SafeWork NSW describes friable asbestos as asbestos in powder form, or asbestos that can be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry.
Non-friable, or bonded. Material with asbestos fibres held in a bonding compound, such as the asbestos cement sheeting SafeWork NSW says was common in building materials from the 1940s to the late 1980s. NSW Health adds that bonded asbestos becomes friable if it is damaged.
Ten square metres. South Australia’s environment regulator gives a sense of scale: it puts that area at roughly one standard bedroom wall.
The line, by kind and amount
| What is being removed | Licence the model rules require | How SafeWork NSW puts it |
|---|---|---|
| Friable asbestos, any amount | Class A, which covers any amount of any kind | A friable asbestos removal licence is needed for any amount |
| Non-friable asbestos, more than 10 square metres | Class B, which covers any amount of non-friable asbestos, or Class A | A non-friable asbestos removal licence is needed above 10 square metres |
| Non-friable asbestos, 10 square metres or less | No removal licence | Unlicensed removal is allowed, but SafeWork NSW recommends a licensed asbestos professional for any amount |
“No licence” is not “no rules”. In Tasmania, WorkSafe says removal of less than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos must still follow the code of practice, How to Safely Remove Asbestos.
The same number, read place by place
The model rules bind workplaces, which is why each place also says something separate about a householder working on their own home. Side by side:
New South Wales
SafeWork NSW says removing less than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos does not need a licensed removalist. The state’s asbestos website adds that a tradesperson needs no removal licence for under 10 square metres or 100 kilograms of non-friable asbestos from a home, and that a homeowner doing unlicensed removal must take the same strict precautions as a professional.
South Australia
The state’s regulations carry the 10 square metre exception from the licence duty. For homeowners, its asbestos site says there is no legal requirement for an individual to hold a licence to remove asbestos from their own property, while recommending a licensed removalist because of the risk of exposure.
Tasmania
Its regulations carry the same 10 square metre exception, for non-friable asbestos and the dust and debris that comes with removing it.
Northern Territory
Its regulations carry the 10 square metre exception too. For a person’s own house, the Territory’s asbestos site says there is no limit on the amount or type they may remove, but transport and disposal rules still apply, and it recommends a licensed business for all domestic removal.
Australian Capital Territory
No 10 square metre exception. WorkSafe ACT says no asbestos material may be removed from any premises, commercial or residential, except by a licensed asbestos removalist. WorkSafe ACT makes an exception for removal that is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work.
Queensland
A homeowner or owner-builder may remove 10 square metres or less of bonded asbestos without a certificate, and must still take safety precautions; above that, a certificate obtained under arrangements approved by Queensland Health is needed.
As for Victoria and Western Australia, their rules are not set out here.
What is never done to it
Whoever does the work, some methods are ruled out because they put fibres in the air. Safe Work Australia explains why that matters: inhaled fibres can lead to diseases that threaten life, among them asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, and these can take 20 to 30 years after the exposure to appear.
The national agency says never to clean an asbestos cement roof, or anything else made with asbestos, with high-pressure water or by scrubbing, sanding, grinding or any other abrasive method, warning that the result can be contamination over a wide area and a costly clean-up. It also warns against cutting, drilling, grinding or sanding asbestos with power tools, naming angle grinders, circular saws and electric sanders. Queensland’s asbestos site lists sawing, sanding, scraping and drilling holes in asbestos materials among the things not to do.
Where the waste goes
A licence line for removal says nothing about disposal, and every place read for this guide has its own disposal rules:
- In NSW, the EPA says asbestos waste can be disposed of only at a landfill licensed to accept it.
- In South Australia, asbestos waste must go to a licensed transfer station or waste depot; putting it in a domestic bin is illegal, and it may not go out in a council hard rubbish collection.
- In the Northern Territory, a homeowner taking asbestos to a council waste facility reports to its office for directions to the asbestos disposal area.
- In the ACT, asbestos may not go in recycling, garden waste or general waste bins.
For removal work that needs a licence, the job belongs to a licensed asbestos removalist.