Asbestos will be completely removed from the built environment by 2030 under a plan announced by the Federal Government.

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten says he will create the Office of Asbestos Safety by next July to tackle rates of asbestos-related disease in Australia, which are the highest in the world on a per capita basis.

The latency period between exposure to asbestos and the symptoms of asbestos-related disease can range from 15 to 40 years.

With the cost of personal injury claims from asbestos forecast by KPMG to reach $9 billion, the Office of Asbestos Safety will create a strategic plan to remove all traces of the once common building material.

It aims to implement the 12 recommendations of the Government’s Asbestos Management Review, led by former assistant secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Geoff Fary and released in June. Aims include the development of guidelines to improve transport, storage and disposal of the material.

“As an insidious killer, asbestos is a national issue requiring urgent attention and greater national preventative co-ordination,” Mr Shorten said. “The recommendations highlighted the need for a new nationally co-ordinated approach and national strategic plan to improve asbestos awareness and management arrangements in Australia.”

Mr Fary says the Government is providing international leadership on asbestos management.

“Australia could become the first nation to commit to… the ultimate elimination of asbestos-related disease,” he said.

Until the mid-1980s Australia was one of the highest users of asbestos in the world. Its use in construction was banned in December 2003.