A summary of ACM production in Australia
Asbestos products were imported for sale and use in Australia from the late 1800s, with Australian manufacturing of asbestos containing material (ACM) commencing in the early 1900s, and the significant manufacture of building products around 1917, which ceased in the 1980s. Imported asbestos products were sold in Australia throughout this period, but Australian manufactured asbestos cement (AC) products dominated the local market. Bulk raw asbestos fibres were imported and locally sourced, to meet the demands of this production.
The main Australian manufacturers of AC products for the following 70 years included:
- Asbestos Products Ltd (1934-1944)
- Correbestos, Fibrobestos, Artbestos, Artyle and Armac.
- Wunderlich Ltd
- Durabestos, Duratile, Duradec, Durawall, Duralux, Durachrome, Duracast, Duraveneer, Log Cabin, Ribwall, Wunderplank, Weatherboard, Wunderflex, Villaboard, Millboard, Chamferboard, Lineboard, Insulabestos, Bevelux
- James Hardie Industries Ltd/James Hardie and Coy Pty Ltd/Hardie-Ferodo Pty Ltd (Hardie’s)
- Fibrolite, Super-Six, Standard, Tilux, Endurite, New Tilux, Velotile, Hardiplank (smooth and woodgrain), Hardibord, Hardigrain, Hardiline, Hardiflex, Versilux, Asbestolux, Shingleplank, Weatherboard, Montana, Stucco, Log Cabin, Villaboard, Shadowline, Highline, Coverline, Chamferboard, Fluted, Striated, Compressed sheets, Multi-notched shingles, Supertite, K-Lite, Millboard, 85% Magnesia, Caposite, High Temperature blocks and sections, Super High Temperature (Super HT) blocks and sections and plastic composition, F.R.Board, Fibrolux, Dilex, Hardibestos, Five Star, Logan Modular Homes.
- Goliath Portland Cement Co Ltd
- Tasbestos, Flexboard, Trojan tiles, Tasbestile, Shadowall, Plankton, Fluted panel, Rustic sheet.
- The Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd (CSR)
- Fibrock, De Luxe Fibrock, Ruberoid, Vinylflex, Master Seven (M7), Bevelux – also trading under the name: Asbestos Products Pty Ltd
- Asbestolite Pty Ltd (1941-1956)
- Asbestolite
Of these, three companies dominated the ACM supply in the post Second World War construction boom in Australia: Hardie and Wunderlich, who were both present at the beginning of local manufacturing, and CSR, whose AC production grew rapidly in the 1950s-60s, lasting until 1977. These three partnered in production and marketing both in Australia and internationally through the South Pacific.
Asbestos was used in the manufacture of over 3,000 branded products. Most of these were moulded AC, used extensively in the construction of residential homes as well as commercial, community and industrial structures. They were attractively marketed to the homeowner as affordable, easy to use and requiring minimal to no maintenance throughout their lifespan.
AC products were made with Portland cement slurry mixed with the disintegrated asbestos fibres, which acted as a binder. It was then placed into mould dies to achieve the relevant shape, which when finished, was cured and dried. In the 1950s, autoclaving was introduced at the end of the process to achieve a longer lasting product.
All Australian manufacturers produced near identical ranges of product, some with the same product names. Corrugated AC sheets and associated components were the core of the AC product and remained in demand for most of the 70 years. Although competition was paramount, the marketing relationships, duplication of product, product names across brands and joint supply to large contracts by Australian manufacturers could almost be described as symbiotic. For example, in 1941 joint ownership was established by Hardie and Wunderlich for product made in South Australia under the brand name Asbestolite. This was necessitated by wartime difficulties with the transport of supplies into the South Australian market. This brand name originated with the Spriggs Asbestolite Co, which had sold a range of imported AC products from around 1914 until they ceased trading in 1930. In 1956 Hardie acquired Wunderlich’s shareholding, after which the Asbestolite brand was phased out.
A large proportion of the AC items produced were identical in structural specification which afforded the customer interoperability of different brands. Commercially, it also allowed production lines to be easily adapted when one manufacturer acquired the infrastructure of another.
Catalogue images for AC roof exhaust ventilators
In 1969 CSR acquired the Wunderlich AC production infrastructure but kept the Wunderlich brand name alive. Marketing in the South Pacific was undertaken with the appearance of a CSR-Wunderlich joint venture. In 1977 Hardie acquired the Wunderlich AC division from CSR and became the sole manufacturer of AC product until it’s finality in the mid-1980s.
When Hardie ceased using asbestos in building products in the mid-1980s, asbestos was not yet comprehensively banned from use in Australia. References in this guide to years of production/use as ‘prior to 1990’ accounts for pre-supplied stock released into the market before the cease.
The Australian use of asbestos in friction materials for brakes and gasket sheeting continued until it was phased out before the national ban and complementing import prohibition became law, on 31 December 2003.
Hardie’s began producing non-ACM products in the 1960s, using materials such as cellulose as an alternative binder to asbestos. The market names of some asbestos products, particularly fibre-cement sheeting and bituminous paints, were retained by different manufacturers although they are now made with asbestos-alternative materials.
As a fibrous raw material, asbestos was also woven into rope and cloth and protective clothing. It was mixed into plasticised form and used for insulation on hot pressure pipes and around furnaces, boilers as well as other industrial plant and machinery. It was spray coated onto structures for fireproofing and to prevent condensation. In addition to its insulating qualities, it was a stable binding material, used in asphalt and bituminous compounds, dampcourses and coatings for layered roofing felts, vinyl and asphalt flooring for industrial and household interiors, paints and in repair sealants and caulking sold to the average consumer.
Some products, particularly insulation and bituminous materials, were produced and sold in Australia by local companies under licence from the original overseas owners. The names of these actual products were often the same as that sold overseas, or under a local brand name. Imported products marketed in Australia are referenced in relation to the overseas manufacturer and/or brand name.
ACM were used extensively across a wide range of industry, trades and government services, including but not limited to: building/construction, railways, electrical and power station infrastructure, Defence Forces, telecommunications, boilermaking, plumbing, water and sewerage infrastructure, agriculture, automotive, shipbuilding, carpentry, flooring, lagging/insulation and the sheet metal industry.