Australia has the world’s highest per capita incidence of the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma, according to Sydney legal specialist Kim Bradey. More than 7500 Australians have been afflicted with the disease, and each year more than 500 contract the life threatening illness.

Ms Bradey, a partner at Sydney law firm Hunt & Hunt, says the incidence of the disease is not expected to peak until 2010-2015. Most concerning is the fact that from the 1950 to the 1970s, Australia had the highest per capita use of asbestos in the world.

A specialist in insurance tort law and asbestos litigation, Ms Bradey says asbestos litigation has driven more than 70 US manufacturers into bankruptcy. Many Australian companies may not be aware of their liability with regard to asbestos-related diseases.

“I ask business owners to think about what their company was doing 15, 20, or even 40 years ago,” she says. “Do you have the resources to quickly and accurately obtain the information necessary to appropriately deal with such a claim? The answer is, most likely, no.”

The latency period between exposure to asbestos and the development of symptoms and signs attributable to asbestos-related disease can range, on average, anywhere from 15 to 40 years.