The rate of mesothelioma diagnoses appears to have stopped rising, according to an annual report on the asbestos-linked cancer.

Australia has one of the highest malignant mesothelioma incidence rates in the world, after being one of the biggest asbestos users until the mid-1980s.

The incidence of mesothelioma diagnoses increased from at least 1982, when national data on new cases became available.

But the rise seems to have stopped since the early 2000s, according to the Australian Mesothelioma Registry report.

The average life expectancy from diagnosis to death is nine months, the report says. “Even with aggressive treatment, few people survive longer than two years.”

Some 619 people were diagnosed with mesothelioma last year, 511 of them male. About 80% were aged above 65 and by April this year 47% had died.

When asked how they might have contracted the disease, 142 men and two women cited possible or probable exposure to asbestos at work. Another 70 had been exposed outside a workplace.

Australia produced asbestos until the mid-1980s, for use in building products, brake linings, paint, rope and fireproofing.