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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-04 Daily Xml
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FIREFIGHTERS

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Industrial Relations a question about the Monash University national Australasian firefighters study and presumptive legislation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: On 15 May, in this place, the Hon. Kyam Maher, on behalf of the government, put on the record the government's intention to wait for the results of the national Australasian firefighters study being conducted by Monash University before proceeding with presumptive legislation for volunteer firefighters. He said:

With regard to this bill, the honourable member should be aware of the work being undertaken through Australian firefighters health study by Monash University. The study seeks to scientifically determine whether volunteer firefighters are at a higher risk of cancer than the general working public. The government will be providing support for this study, and strongly supports the work being done. The government expects this study will be completed in 2014, and we will consider the outcomes as a government in a diligent and thorough manner. Until we have the scientific evidence on this particular issue before us, the government cannot support the bill.

After that debate, I contacted the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health for their view on the government's decision. They wrote to me, and I quote the correspondence in full. It states:

Thank you for your email about the National Australasian Firefighters' study.

We are concerned that decisions about presumptive legislation are being delayed pending our study's findings.

We believe that there is already good evidence from a very large number of previous human studies that work as a firefighter is associated with an increased risk of several types [of] cancer. The main focus of our study is to provide information for more effective prevention of cancer and other adverse health outcomes in firefighters.

The Australian study is designed to expand upon the previous findings of increased cancer rates found in many human studies. The LeMasters study and 2007 review of human studies by the International Agency for Research on Cancer...part of the World Health Organisation, identified several cancers where there is clear epidemiological evidence that they are associated with work as a firefighter.

Our study will also build upon these previous research findings by investigating causes of death other than cancer, such as from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

We plan to use more refined exposure assessments focusing on the many known carcinogens in smoke to identify those exposures in firefighter subgroups, which have led to the well documented increases in cancer. This has been identified by LeMasters and others as the next important step in this area of firefighter health research. These results will help to inform agencies on how best to reduce these exposures and hence mitigate the known cancer risk in the future.

We believe that there is already good evidence from a very large number of previous human studies that work as a firefighter is associated with an increased risk of several types of cancer.

Given the large number of studies already undertaken in firefighters and the positive associations for increase in several types of cancer, the results of one or more future studies, including our study, are very unlikely to change the overall conclusions of increased cancer risk among firefighters, as the results of all studies need to be taken into account. Whilst it is true that there is little data on the cancer risks specifically for volunteer firefighters, a gap which our study hopes to address, it should be noted that in the course of firefighting, volunteer firefighters might be expected to have exposures similar to those of career firefighters.

Our study is a prospective study which will present its first report next year, but may well take several years to deliver definitive findings about exposure to specific carcinogens. Our strong view is that decisions about compensation processes should be made on the basis of the available scientific evidence at the time. There will always be one more study on the horizon, and waiting for more research findings, especially in this situation where the results of many cancer studies in firefighters are already available, will lead to unacceptable delays, possibly extending into years.

The results of future studies can always be used to fine tune any legislation put in place now.

We hope this has helped to clarify the purpose of our study and we are very happy to discuss this further with you or any other Ministers or Government officers.

That is signed by Associate Professor Deborah Glass and Professor Malcolm Sim from the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health. My questions are:

1. What communications did the minister or his office or representatives make with the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health before reaching a government position to use the current survey as a stalling tactic on the inclusion of CFS volunteers in any presumptive legislation?

2. If there were no communications, then why not?

3. If there were communications, then what part of the words of this letter, 'We are concerned that decisions about presumptive legislation are being delayed pending our study's findings' does the government not understand?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:12): I thank the honourable member for her important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Industrial Relations from another place and bring back a response.

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