By Aneeka Simonis
A METH LAB remediation company has called on the government to introduce mandatory meth-testing in homes up for sale or rent.
Under the proposal, test results would be registered, enabling landlords to track meth use between rental tenancies.
Those looking to rent or buy a property would also have access to the register to determine if it is contaminated with methamphetamine.
The majority of homes used in ice manufacturing and distribution are rentals.
It was revealed that many Victorians were living in meth-contaminated homes, and that the government was failing to do its part in protecting people from toxic homes.
Meth Lab Cleaners Australia managing director Josh Marsden said many Victorian home drug labs were going undetected, and were being leased to new tenants who were being exposed to serious health hazards. Children were most at risk.
Chemical residues can seep into soft furnishing, carpets and walls and kids exposed to these chemicals can suffer serious neurological delays.
“It affects the nervous system. It kills brain receptors,” Mr Marsden explained.
He said he gets calls every day from residents and agents wanting a home to be checked for drug traces.
Over the past two years, homes in Greater Dandenong and Casey were busted for drug manufacturing.
Police reports reveal a Dandenong meth lab was fully operational when it was detected by police earlier this year, and that drug-making equipment and chemicals had been found in several homes in the broader south-east region since 2014.
Mr Marsden said drug-testing should be offered as part of pre-purchase or pre-rental inspections, pointing to New Zealand where a growing number of buyers are requesting drug contamination checks.
The demand has prompted the New Zealand Government to create national standards for meth testing.
“People cook up in houses, then move on and leave it contaminated. It seeps into the walls of the home. There would be tens of thousands of properties that are contaminated,” he said.
“We need to get something passed through legislation that requires drug-testing at the end of a tenant’s lease, and that information is filed in a register which has history tracking.
“At the moment, there’s no base point. If a home is contaminated, it could have been the current tenant or five before.”
But the State Government has revealed it has no plans to introduce drug-testing protocols despite the rapid increase in methamphetamine use and manufacturing recorded across the state.
Mr Marsden feared a lack of government regulation was not only duping landlords, but putting lives at risk.
“It’s a big problem,” he said.
Remediation can cost anywhere between $5000 and $150,000, and that cost is often borne by landlords.
In a statement, Housing Minister Martin Foley wrote: “Home owners have a responsibility to remediate their property or face penalties from the local government”.
Hazcon, a company which conducts drug-testing in homes across outer south-east Melbourne and Gippsland, has also been getting more requests for drug-testing kits.
HSE consultant Petrina Abbott warned houses that smelt of ammonia or were discoloured by yellow-orange stains could be contaminated with methamphetamine.
Some 161 clandestine laboratories were detected in Victoria in 2014/15, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
