Sand contaminated with asbestos?

Although the focus appears to be on schools, ACA NSW would like to ask early childhood education and care services to take precautionary actions to ensure that they too do not have these coloured decorative sand that may be contaminated with asbestos.

The decorative coloured sand in question would have been sold between 1 January 2020 and 12 November 2025, Supplied in various colours, they tend to be used for open-ended art and craft activities or sensory play.

The ACCC Product Safety's official product recall has published a list of the products that have been recalled because they may include asbestos which is a prohibited substance in Australia.

The list of retailers who sold these products is also available.

Should you have these products, stop using them immediately. 

For the safe disposal of contaminated sand, please refer to:

• the ACCC Product Safety page;

• use Verify NSW webpage to confirm the licence of asbestos (removal) providers;

According to SafeWork NSW, you should also (where applicable):

• Immediately report the incident to your manager

• Minimise disturbance of the material and area

• Inform workers to prevent access until the hazard has been contained

• Set up an exclusion zone using barricades and warning signs restricting access to the contaminated area

• Consult a licensed asbestos assessor to provide immediate advice on making the area safe. Advice on decontamination and disposal of clothing (as asbestos waste) should also be obtained

• Contact SafeWork NSW on 13 10 50 to report the incident.

• Contact a licensed asbestos professional to undertake removal works at contaminated area

• Health monitoring must be undertaken or supervised by a registered medical practitioner experienced in health monitoring as soon as practical after the exposure.

• Register your details on the National Asbestos Exposure Register.

Equally as importantly, you would report to the NSW Department of Education through the NQA ITS (as a serious incident) if the children were exposed or the service is considered unsafe.

Depending on the outcome of the exposure, the Approved Provider should also consider the following and potentially report within 24 hours:

• under the National Law s174(2)(a) and National Regulation 12(c); 

• under the National Law s174(2)(a) and National Regulation 12(b); or

• under the National Law s174(2)(c) and National Regulation 175(2)(b).

For any further information/clarification, services can contact the NSW Regulatory Authority.

The NSW Government did provide updated advice on 21 November 2025 that "the latest SafeWork NSW testing detected no respirable asbestos fibres in nationally recalled coloured sand products. This aligns with enHealth advice that there is a very low health risk related to the recently recalled coloured sand products."

The Federal Department of Education also declared a national Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency (12-21 November 2025) to support families and services if and when there are widespread closures that prevent their children from attending care.

ACA NSW members can also contact the ACA NSW team for any further information/clarification via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.

UPDATED: 21 NOVEMBER 2025

FIRST PUBLISHED: 18 NOVEMBER 2025