There are over 40,000 chemicals currently approved for use in Australia, and many of these are used daily by Local Governments to fertilise recreational areas, control weeds, and clean public pools, sports centres, toilets and halls.
Unfortunately, as we have seen in terror attacks around the world, in the wrong hands, some of these chemicals can be used to make home made explosives or misused due to their toxic properties.
For this reason, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a national approach for assessing the risk of chemicals, and providing targeted controls to reduce this risk.
Australian, State and Territory Governments, along with key industry groups, have developed and implemented an Australia wide campaign to raise community awareness about the national security risks posed by some everyday household chemicals.
The campaign also serves to build vigilance in the community and to encourage people to report suspicious chemical activity to enable jurisdictional police or intelligence agencies to investigate further if required.
Local Government can also play an important role by getting the message out using the following strategies.
Displaying posters and brochures
“If you suspect it, report it” posters and brochures have been developed to assist the community in identifying suspicious behaviour, and to encourage people to report their suspicions to the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400. Councils can support the campaign by displaying the posters and brochures in staff areas, and in the local community. These are available to order free of charge, simply email chemicalsecurity
@ag.gov.au or phone (02) 6141 2985.
Encouraging staff to be alert and to report suspicious chemical activity
The brochures and posters can be used to assist with this. Suspicious activity is anything that just doesn’t feel right. It could include a council worker noticing chemicals missing from their storeroom or an excessive and unexplainable number of chemical bottles in a garbage bin—the smallest clue could help piece together an investigation.
Linking to the Chemical Security website
The campaign has a dedicated website at www.australia.gov.au/chemicalsecurity where people can get information or download posters and brochures. Providing a link to this website from your Local Government website enables your community to have easy access to this resource and helps to get the message out.
If you are concerned about the misuse of chemicals in your local community, call the
National Security Hotline, telephone
1800 123 400.
To find out more about chemicals of security concern visit australia.gov.au/chemicalsecurity or contact your jurisdictional representative listed on the website.
*Copy supplied by the Attorney-Generals Department
