Blog
Media statement 20th Nov 2025
Senator Thorpe’s PFAS inquiry exposes Australia’s failed chemical regulation system.
Yesterday the Federal Senate Inquiry into PFAS released its final report and recommendations.
While appreciating that the committee has highlighted this critical issue, Toxics Free Australia is disappointed that the inquiry did not call for urgent action to protect Australians from PFAS, especially children, by banning the PFAS chemical family.
Instead, the committee recommended a ‘monitoring approach’ – if funds can be found.
Australia has a major PFAS pollution problem despite not manufacturing these chemicals in Australia. PFAS chemicals move quickly in surface and groundwater contaminating large areas. Sources include firefighting foam used in mining, oil and gas, on structure fires, emergency training sites, ports, airfields, defence sites as well as through our materials production systems and the waste generated and pesticides. They have been linked with many adverse human health effects including cancer and reproductive toxicity.
The national chemical regulatory framework does not protect human health and the environment from PFAS chemicals, and this inquiry report confirmed this fact.
Jane Bremmer, Chair of Toxics Free Australia warns, “This inquiry’s recommendations further enshrine ‘a wait and see approach on PFAS’ for the Federal government. This approach opens up Australia to becoming a PFAS dumping ground while other countries move quickly to ban PFAS as a group. The Australian government is effectively leaving the tap on while the bath overflows. It’s very disappointing that this inquiry did not demand clear action from government to prevent more PFAS contamination. Communities, including First Nations, all over Australia, continue to wait for justice and compensation while they live, stranded on PFAS contaminated land.
This inquiry acknowledged the regulatory data gaps that exist in Australia and the widespread contamination of products, clothing, food packaging and associated waste streams, agricultural and natural environments, river systems and oceans as well as human health -especially children.
While our waste management sector carries the burden of PFAS contaminated textiles, food packaging, plastic waste, biosolids and much more, there is no plan in this inquiry report to ensure the environmentally sound disposal of PFAS contaminated wastes and materials as a priority.
Instead, Australian state governments are rolling out the red carpet for the waste incinerator sector – a prime source of PFAS emissions to air and soil. Despite submissions to the inquiry offering environmentally sound waste management solutions, these were not included in the inquiry report or recommendations.
Industrial air emissions as a source of PFAS pollution were not addressed in this inquiry or its recommendations.
While this inquiry acknowledged that pesticides were a source of PFAS pollution, there are no recommendations to address the role that PFAS pesticides are playing in the widespread contamination of the environment. The scale of potential contamination coming through industrial agricultural practices via PFAS pesticides (including the potential for Trifluoracetic Acid contamination) is on a scale that cannot be ignored.
Vast areas of Australia are being regularly sprayed with PFAS pesticides, including in the urban environment and natural areas. The potential for passive chemical exposure continues to be ignored by the Federal Government and seemingly this inquiry committee, even while compelling evidence of harm to biodiversity, drinking water sources, food and soil exists and was provided to the committee. This is indefensible.
This inquiry and report confirm that the Federal Government has a fatal blind spot on PFAS and human health. In the face of considerable international scientific and expert evidence of human health impacts, justifying stricter regulation and bans in those countries, our federal health regulators refuse to acknowledge this evidence and the associated regulatory standards, instead claiming that there is no conclusive evidence of harm. Hiding behind outdated empirical toxicology concepts, our health regulators favour industry convenience over the precautionary principle. This is a common theme for Australia’s chemical regulator, highlighted this week by the Dimethoate in blueberries scandal and asbestos in kids sand play products, demonstrating that children’s public health protection is not our governments priority.
The committee acknowledged that fake turf, was a prime source of PFAS contamination to the environment and waterways yet ignored the fact that our children and babies inhale, ingest and dermally absorb these same toxic chemicals including PFAS when they play on crumbed rubber and fake turf surfaces. We put this material into our children’s hospital playgrounds and scandalously promote crumbed rubber products through the Telethon Children’s Health Institute.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies several PFAS as carcinogenic. Many countries have now moved to ban PFAS as a group of chemicals in recognition of their harm to human health and have set much more protective food, consumer product, water, air and environmental protection standards. The Circular Economy in Australia is extremely vulnerable to toxic and hazardous chemical contamination and requires robust regulation to prevent harm to human health and the environment.
We support the additional recommendations of the Committee Chair, Lidia Thorpe and urge the other committee members to support these too.
While Australia has the highest cancer rates in the world, Australia’s go-slow approach to PFAS regulation is indefensible. We urge the Australian government to reconsider its approach and uphold the precautionary principle for our health, environment and future generations.
You can access this media release here – PFAS inquiry report MR
The PFAS Inquiry report can be found here – https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Tabled_Documents/13852
