‘Betty’ – The Asbestos Education House is a purpose built, mobile model home designed to educate the public on where asbestos might be found in and around any Australian home built or renovated before 1990.
With the mission to prevent asbestos-related diseases by educating the community about the dangers of asbestos and how to manage it safely; since Betty was launched in 2012, she’s travelled more than 67,000 kilometres touring every Australian state and territory except Western Australia.
Betty has toured as far north as Darwin and Cairns, as far south as Port Arthur and as far inland as Alice Springs conducting 244 public appearances, 203 media calls and she’s been displayed at 51 Bunnings Stores across NSW, Victoria, QLD, SA, TAS and the NT. Betty has visited hundreds of communities around Sydney and regularly toured throughout NSW, primarily exhibiting at community events, council activities and DIY or renovation expos to educate Australians about asbestos dangers.
In every town Betty visits we hold a media call to ensure Betty’s message reaches into the homes of every community she visits. Each Betty tour takes several weeks to plan to ensure multiple communities are visited with her tours ranging from one week up to 6 weeks as she travels through multiple states and territories. Councils, MPs and state government regulators in the states and territories she’s visited have supported Betty’s tours as an important community education initiative in the prevention of asbestos-related diseases.
Betty’s curators and chauffeurs, Geoff and Karen Wicks, are multi award-winning fully trained volunteers who enable Betty to educate the community and manage her maintenance and upkeep. Thanks to Geoff and Karen, Betty’s life-saving message has reached into the homes of hundreds-of-thousands of Australian’s to help save lives.
As part of National Safe Work Month (October 2022), ‘Betty – The Asbestos Education House’ undertook a dedicated tour visiting 10 TAFE NSW campuses to help educate young apprentices about the dangers of asbestos and how to manage it safely when working on domestic properties in their day-to-day work. Designed to complement TAFE NSW existing asbestos awareness training for apprentice tradies; Betty formed the centrepiece of a dedicated education activity to introduce Asbestos Awareness for Young Workers which was developed by Advocacy Australia’s Asbestos Education Committee in partnership with SafeWork NSW, thanks to funding awarded by the NSW Government.
The Asbestos Awareness for Young Workers was developed specifically for young workers, apprentices, trade teachers, employers conscientious about protecting their workers from asbestos hazards and parents wanting to protect their family members, this invaluable asbestos education resource is free to download here.
Betty’s Impact Snapshot
Since launching in November 2012 Betty has:
- Travelled over 67,000 km (as of March 2026)
- Had 265 public appearances
- Held 213 Media Call events
- Been seen in person by over 1.5 million Australians
- Generated +1050 media pieces across TV, print, radio and online
- Been displayed at 73 Bunnings Stores in NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, and VIC
- Attended 13 TAFEs
- Toured every state and territory except WA.
- Partnered with councils across NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, and VIC
- Visited various community events including:
- TAFE NSW
- The Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2013 and 2015
- The Sydney Home Show
- AGQUIP
- Disaster Risk Awareness Festival 2025
- The Ballina Home Show
- Coffs Harbour Waste Conference
- Home and Garden Show Bowral
- Lithgow Council Annual Safety Day 2014
- The Living Room
- Mona Vale Markets
- NAIDOC Week Events 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2018
- Parramatta Council’s Australia Day Celebrations at Parramatta Park
- Ag Shows: The Royal Agricultural Society’s Camden Show, Parks Show and Condobolin Show
- Tocal Field Days
- Festivals: Seven Hills Festival 2025, Wilmot Festival 2024, Georges River Council’s Oatley Village Festival
- Fairs: Strathfield Spring Fair, Hills Shire Council’s Crestwood Fair
- National & International Recognition:
- Betty has received national and global recognition from researchers, academics, asbestos diseases support groups and industry leaders for sustained public health asbestos awareness and prevention education activities.
- Follow Betty on Facebook
- For more on Betty visit asbestosawareness.com.au/betty
