James Hardie asbestos victims compensation summary

Our plain-English summary of James Hardie asbestos victims compensation summary, by Australian Council of Trade Unions (New Solutions, 2008).

The study

• Author: Australian Council of Trade Unions
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2008;18(3):383-90
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is not a research study. It is a fact sheet and timeline from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), reprinted in a journal. It covers compensation for victims of James Hardie, described as Australia's largest manufacturer of asbestos-containing products, including asbestos cement sheet ("fibro"), pipes and friction materials. It reports a September 2006 KPMG estimate of 4,660 future James Hardie mesothelioma claims Australia-wide from 2006 onwards. It gives a peak of about 250 claims a year in 2010/2011 and 12,513 total claims, past and future. It says a 2004 inquiry led by David Jackson put James Hardie's Australian asbestos liabilities at $1.5 to $2.24 billion. That inquiry found the compensation foundation underfunded by about $2 billion and the company's statements misleading and deceptive. It then describes a December 2004 Heads of Agreement, the basis for a later binding agreement, with no cap on payments to victims; James Hardie's annual payment into the fund was to be capped at 35% of its free cash flow. A first payment of $184.3 million followed shareholder approval on February 7, 2007.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Advocacy fact sheet and timeline (a reprinted union document), not a research study; it reports figures from a KPMG actuarial report and findings of the Jackson Inquiry
• Who was studied: Asbestos victims with compensation claims against James Hardie, a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products in Australia during the 20th century
• Exposure: James Hardie asbestos-containing products: insulation products, asbestos cement sheet or "fibro", pipes and friction materials (particularly brake and clutch linings); no fiber types named
• Main results:
  • KPMG (September 2006) estimated 4,660 future James Hardie mesothelioma claims Australia-wide, from 2006 onwards
  • KPMG expected the peak year for James Hardie mesothelioma claims to be 2010/2011, at about 250 claims per year
  • KPMG estimated 12,513 total James Hardie asbestos claims, past and future, of which 8,103 were from 2006 onwards
  • KPMG estimated James Hardie compensation costs (after insurance and other recoveries) at $1,554.8 million, with a nominal value of $3,168.9 million
  • The Jackson Inquiry (report released September 21, 2004) found James Hardie's Australian asbestos liabilities to be between $1.5 and $2.24 billion, and found that the company had underfunded the MRCF by about $2 billion
  • The Jackson Inquiry found James Hardie made misleading and deceptive statements in relation to establishing the MRCF
  • The December 2004 Heads of Agreement was designed as the basis for a later legally binding Principal Agreement
  • The Heads of Agreement provided for no cap on payments to victims, a cap on James Hardie's annual payment into the fund at 35% of the company's free cash flow, and a minimum term of 40 years
  • 99.6% of James Hardie shareholders approved the compensation package on February 7, 2007, and a first payment of $184.3 million into the new Fund was made that day
  • The document reports that as of June 2003 there had been 7,515 reported incidents of mesothelioma in Australia, citing a separate report by Leigh and Driscoll
• The authors' conclusion: The document draws no formal conclusion. It ends by reporting that the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund (AICF) would take over processing asbestos-related personal injury claims against certain former James Hardie subsidiaries.

Related studies

• The James Hardie story: asbestos victims' claims evaded by manufacturer — B. Hills (2005)
• Justice for asbestos victims and the politics of compensation: the French experience — A. Thébaud-Mony (2003)
• "Make history but don't forget the past" — G. Swayn (2008)
• Global asbestos justice: South African asbestos victims win right to sue Cape PLC in U.K. courts — L. Kazan-Allen (2001)
• The cost of compensating asbestos victims under the Occupational Disease Compensation Act of 1983 — F.B. Siskind (1987)
• Asbestos law: victims' rights and industry's reaction — K. Asch (1979)

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