Editorial

by Adrian Hill, Elizabeth O'Brien and Robin Mosman

This newsletter is mostly case studies from the 3rd quarterly report of LEADLINE, dated February 1996. LEADLINE is the national lead information and referral service run by The LEAD Group.

More case studies? Well, as Dr Kate Short said at the Australian Medical Association's Environment Forum in November 1995, "What is the plural term for anecdote? The answer: data."

It was when a fellow lead campaigner (for Citizen Action in New Jersey, USA) sent two letters telling us of his success in getting regulatory change introduced, that we realised again how essential such regulations are for Australia too.

Dealing with people's individual problems with lead is a vital function, but if we are to stop the problems arising in the first place, regulatory change is required. The massive number of cases we have dealt with (over 3000) in just nine months, a very few of which we present here, ably demonstrate the need for legislative change in Australia regarding lead.

LEADLINE’s unique contribution to the management of the lead problem is its ability to facilitate the development of the whole range of services needed to cope with it. With the lead assessment and abatement industries in their infancy, a huge range of new small and large business opportunities exist, including training in lead management.

Australia and the Asian Pacific region generally provide a huge potential market for the services, products and training which are developing. Examples include lead assessors; laboratory analysis; building contractors and painters who now specialise in lead paint abatement and leaded ceiling dust removal; recyclers of leaded waste; lead-aware cleaning services (home and workplace); equipment hire and sales service.

LEADLINE’s focus on lead, and it’s huge network of contacts on all aspects of the lead issue give it the necessary "big picture" view to see where these opportunities exist.

More importantly, it has the ability to refer business inquirers to these opportunities, and consumer inquirers to the businesses which then develop, which government departments cannot.

This interface between the problem, the business which can deal with the problem, and the customer who has the problem, is one which government alone, and business alone, do not and cannot provide.