Dangerous levels of airborne mould prompted cease-work directives and partial shutdowns at three ambulance stations in northern NSW, with the Health Services Union (HSU) and paramedics citing uninhabitable conditions at the Tweed Heads, Pottsville and Murwillumbah facilities, as reported by 7News Coast on 7 May.
The incident, driven by the region’s persistently high humidity, forced NSW Ambulance to activate Business Continuity Plans across the Tweed Shire and underscores the very real operational consequences of inadequate moisture management in public buildings.
At Tweed Heads, a hygienist’s report revealing dangerous mould spore levels prompted paramedics to issue a formal cease-work directive, with staff temporarily relocated to the nearby Kingscliff Ambulance Station while remediation is carried out. At Pottsville and Murwillumbah, similar outbreaks rendered parts of both stations unserviceable for daily operations and staff welfare, with local management working alongside NSW Ambulance to establish continuity arrangements that ensure emergency response coverage across the region remains uninterrupted.
Remediation under way
NSW Ambulance is now working with environmental experts and the HSU to carry out deep cleaning, air quality testing and structural remediation across all three sites. Critically, paramedics will only return to full operations at these exact locations once independent professional assessments confirm each building is safe for occupation, a standard that reflects the severity of the contamination identified and the health risks posed by prolonged exposure to airborne mould spores.
The Tweed Shire incidents arrive at a time when mould is commanding increasing attention across Australia’s public building portfolio. A February 2026 investigation by the ABC’s Stateline found mould, asbestos and collapsed ceilings plaguing South Australian schools, with the State Government having acknowledged as far back as 2024 that more than a third of its school buildings had already exceeded their designed operational life. The compounding of moisture damage with legacy hazardous materials such as asbestos, a pattern seen repeatedly in older public buildings, significantly escalates both remediation complexity and cost.
When mould meets asbestos
The consequences of that combination are most vividly illustrated by the fate of Willyama High School in Broken Hill. An independent occupational hygienist classified the mould outbreak there at Condition 3, the most severe level, identifying the dangerous human pathogens Aspergillus and Penicillium among the mould detected throughout the school buildings.
During the subsequent demolition, the situation escalated further, with unexpected asbestos discovered on the back of vinyl tiles, inside structural concrete walls and in window linings, with cumulative finds extending the hazardous materials removal timeline. The NSW Government ultimately committed to a complete rebuild of the school, with the hygienist finding that, even after remediation, mould reoccurrence would remain likely unless the underlying issues were permanently resolved.
For cleaning and facilities management professionals, the Northern NSW ambulance station closures are a pointed reminder that humidity control, proactive air quality monitoring and regular hygienist inspections are operational necessities, particularly in coastal and subtropical regions where building envelopes are under constant moisture stress.
