When Senator Lidia Thorpe tabled the Senate Select Committee’s final report on PFAS, she delivered a warning that cut through the technical detail. PFAS contamination was not only present in water supplies, soils and seafood. It was also showing up in wildlife that holds cultural meaning for First Nations people.
“I heard yesterday that possums have high contents of PFAS,” she said. “I was just like, what, possums?”
The image is confronting, yet it reflects the PFAS committee findings and the earlier interim report. Both documents detail the movement of PFAS through waterways and ecosystems. Thorpe said that hearing about PFAS in dolphins and possums underscored the scale of the threat.
“When dolphins and possums have high PFAS levels, they ultimately die, and a part of us dies with our totems,” she said.
As Chair of the Committee, Thorpe approached the inquiry with a straightforward premise. Australia’s regulatory system had not kept pace with international evidence or community expectations.
“We have a problem in this country with these forever chemicals,” she said. “We need stronger national guidelines that are consistent across every state and territory, and we need to regularly test drinking water and swimming water for PFAS.”
The final report’s 47 recommendations reflect this position. Although the inquiry canvassed chemical regulation, health impacts, waste pathways and groundwater contamination, Thorpe said the action case was already compelling.
“We know through the evidence that PFAS causes ill health in many forms, and the US regulations are much stronger than ours,” she said. “We need to keep up with the rest of the world.”
Thorpe said that Australia should move towards eliminating PFAS altogether.
“We need to ban all PFAS and related chemicals,” she said. “A full ban is what will keep people in this country safe and protect future generations.”
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What do the PFAS committee findings reveal about First Nations water justice?
While the final report expands the inquiry’s national scope, the interim report centred on Wreck Bay. The community sits downstream from a Defence site, and the committee heard deeply personal evidence about PFAS contamination in local waterways.
Thorpe said Wreck Bay illustrated how PFAS disrupts daily life, cultural responsibilities and community health.
“If it is affecting First Nations communities, it is affecting everybody,” she said. “We cannot have elders spending money from their aged care packages on bottled water. That is not a solution.”
She described seeing a snake dying on the beach during her visit. Residents told her it was due to contaminated runoff from the Defence base.
“When we know of a hotspot, we need to eradicate it,” she said. “We need to isolate PFAS before it runs into waterways, contaminates animals, and harms more people.”
In nearby communities, residents reported rare cancers that raised alarms.
“There was a cancer cluster,” she said. “We heard about young sisters with brain cancers, teenagers with breast cancer and young men with sores on their backs. Clearly, there is an issue.”
The PFAS committee findings emphasise that First Nations communities bear a disproportionate burden from contamination, particularly when hunting and fishing are central to cultural practice. Thorpe said this reality should unsettle policymakers.
“Fishing and hunting cannot happen anymore in places like Wreck Bay,” she said. “It has already changed how communities live.”
She called for accessible blood testing and transparent water sampling to help communities understand their exposure.
“We know PFAS is in all of our blood, so the question is how much,” she said. “People need to be informed about the implications.”
What regulatory changes must the water sector prepare for?
The final report repeatedly warns that Australia risks becoming a dumping ground for PFAS-laden products as other countries tighten standards. Thorpe said Australia must revise its chemical and import controls.
“We need to improve chemical assessment and regulation in this country,” she said. “If we are not monitoring chemicals, how can we be assured we are drinking clean water or swimming in rivers that will not cause us harm?”
She said that water utilities cannot carry the burden alone.
“Departments only have so much power,” she said. “The Environmental Protection agencies need to be empowered to enforce clean drinking water and clean rivers.”
The PFAS committee findings highlight inconsistencies in state and territory thresholds for PFAS in drinking water, groundwater and recreational waters. Thorpe said a single national standard was essential.
“What levels are allowable in one area should be the same in another,” she said. “Water regulators need to be held accountable to a national standard.”
She also emphasised the role of shared learning. Throughout the inquiry, utilities and contractors demonstrated technologies for isolating or treating PFAS.
“We saw examples at airports where PFAS is being contained to stop runoff into farmland,” she said. “That information needs to be shared nationally.”
How should utilities communicate risk and responsibility?
The report also explores the mental health impacts that PFAS uncertainty creates. Thorpe said transparency must be central to risk communication.
“Any customer should know what they are drinking,” she said. “Water companies should be open about PFAS levels and provide updates. If people do not know what is in the water, why would they drink it?”
She said she was struck by how little Australians know about the quality of their water. Recalling a conversation with a US PFAS litigator, she said the moment captured the wider issue.
“We were given a glass of water at a hotel, and he looked at me in a way that questioned my willingness to drink that water,” Thorpe said. “It made me think about how little we know about what we consume.”
The committee’s final recommendations include pursuing litigation against PFAS manufacturers. Thorpe said companies should be held accountable.
“Why should the taxpayer pay for the harm being caused?” she said. “The companies that invented this poison should be paying.”
She ended with a reminder that water protection carries deep cultural meaning. “Water is life,” she said. “To protect our water for future generations, we need to pressure governments to implement these recommendations.”