Multiple ACT schools shut after alert over asbestos in coloured sand products

More than a dozen primary and preschools in the ACT have shut their doors, and a special school in Brisbane has made a snap closure, after an asbestos warning was issued for a range of colourful children’s sand products imported from China and sold at leading Australian retailers. On Friday , the ACT’s education minister, Yvette Berry, confirmed 15 schools and seven preschools would be fully closed, up from three earlier in the morning. Six schools would be partially closed to multiple cohorts while testing and remediation took place. It followed a recall of 1.3kg versions of Kadink Sand (1.3kg) and Educational Colours – Rainbow Sand, as well as the 1kg packages of Creatistics – Coloured Sand products by the Australian Consumer Competition Commission (ACCC) on Wednesday due to chrysotile asbestos concerns. Hours after the ACT’s announcement, a special school in Brisbane confirmed it would shut with “immediate effect” after discovering some of the sand products at its junior and senior school. In a post to Facebook around 10am on Friday, the head of Mancel College, Craig Duncan, said the school was acting out of an “abundance of caution” and advising parents to make arrangements to collect their children. The ACCC said the products were sold throughout Australia between 2020 and 2025 including by other retailers Educating Kids, Modern Teaching Aids and Zart Art. Officeworks has also recalled KD Plain Sand (1.3kg), KD Magic Sand (2kg) in natural and purple, and Kadink six-piece decorative sand over the concerns. It said the products were made in China and nearly all of them were supplied by the art supplies company Educational Colours, apart from Kadink decorative sand, which was supplied by local wholesaler Shamrock Australia. Addressing the media on Friday morning, Berry said she understood the news would be upsetting for families however WorkSafe had advised the risk of exposure to traces of asbestos was low. She said the decorative sand product was used at some of the ACT’s public schools for sensory play and arts and crafts. “The safety of students staff and families is our priority which is why we are taking this action. The decision to close schools has been made on the advice of WorkSafe to eliminate the risk as far as is reasonably practical,” she said. Berry said WorkSafe ACT tested the sand on Thursday and she would update the community on the results “as soon as possible”. “Remediation will be happening across the weekend by licensed asbestos contractors and it is our aim to have our schools back up operating from Monday,” Berry said. “School communities will receive advice on Sunday afternoon or evening.” The ACT’s work health and safety commissioner, Jacqueline Agius, said she had been advised of the potential asbestos contamination in schools in a meeting with Berry and the education directorate at 8.30pm on Thursday evening. Decisions were made as early as this morning to move schools into full and partial closures. She said eight air monitoring tests returned on Friday morning were negative for airborne fibres of asbestos. Further test results would be released in the coming days. She said while the product had been for sale in Australia for five years, “we don’t know there has been asbestos in the product for five years”. “There are tests happening all over the country at the moment,” she added. Asked why the ACT was the only jurisdiction to have taken the step to close schools, Berry said “potentially because our regulator is on the ball” and information from WorkSafe across the country was “very similar”. A NSW department for education spokesperson confirmed no public schools had been closed but as a precaution a safety alert had been sent to all NSW public schools to “immediately and safely remove these sand products if they have them”. A spokesperson for Victoria’s department of education said there was “no indication of a need to close schools or early childhood services” due to the low health risk. “We are working swiftly to identify any schools and early childhood services that may be using the recalled products and will then support them to follow the remediation advice from relevant authorities,” the spokesperson said. Asbestos, a hazardous material that can cause terminal diseases and has been banned in Australia since 2003, is not allowed to be imported except in very limited circumstances. Worksafe ACT urged anyone with the product in their home or arts and crafts containing the sand to dispose of it immediately and do everything they can to prevent fibres from becoming airborne. That included wearing disposable gloves, a P2-rated face mask and protective eyewear when disposing of any products. “Do not disturb or use it and isolate the product,” the authority said. “Carefully double wrap the sand, its container, and any related materials in 200-micron plastic bags, seal securely with tape, and clearly label the package as asbestos waste.” Asbestos cannot be disposed of in general waste and must be taken to resource management facilities. Asbestos-contaminated mulch prompted the closure of schools, hospitals and parks in Sydney in 2024 while historic dumping and legacy contamination was blamed for traces found at parks in Melbourne’s west. -with AAP