A Queensland court has awarded a former plumber AU$1.9 million plus legal costs, the largest asbestosis compensation payment on record in Australian history.
Robin Smith, now in his late 70s, developed asbestosis following decades of workplace exposure to hazardous asbestos fibres while working as a plumber from the mid-1960s onwards.
The Supreme Court of Queensland handed down the historic judgment on 8 October, marking the state’s first ever common law judgment specifically for asbestosis.
The trial, held in August, targeted Amaca Pty Ltd (formerly James Hardie & Coy), the North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation, and WorkCover Queensland on behalf of Mr Smith’s former de-registered employers.
Court testimony revealed that the majority of Smith’s exposure occurred between 1981 and the mid-1990s while employed by the Mackay Harbour Board.
His work involved cutting through asbestos cement pipes with a demolition saw during water line maintenance.
Expert medical witnesses told the court that Smith’s condition is progressive, irreversible, and fatal, leaving him with an estimated life expectancy of five to six years.
The court awarded Smith AU$800,000 specifically for pain and suffering as part of the total payout.
Slater and Gordon lawyer Sean Sweeney noted the severity of the case and the ongoing dangers of legacy asbestos.
“James Hardie & Coy knew, and large employers ought to have known, about the dangers of asbestos in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. The fact that Mr Smith experienced such extreme asbestos exposure into the 1990s is deeply concerning,” Sweeney said.
“Asbestosis is a devastating diagnosis. It’s often a debilitating disease that progresses over a long period of time, taking a devastating toll on victims and their families. This judgment serves as a critical reminder about the dangers of asbestos.”
Slater and Gordon has represented dust disease and asbestos-related compensation cases for over 40 years. It conducted Australia’s first successful common law asbestos litigation case in 1984.
