Employment and public service Minister Eric Abetz will lead the Abbott government response to the Mr Fluffy asbestos crisis.
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ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher will seek an urgent meeting with the Tasmanian senator after discussing the need for Commonwealth co-operation with Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Jamie Briggs at Parliament House on Tuesday.
Ms Gallagher said Commonwealth funding was essential to efforts to either clean up or demolish homes with the deadly loose-fill asbestos present in the ACT and New South Wales.
She last week announced emergency payments of up to $10,000 for households affected by the crisis.
"My feeling is they are very aware of the issue, they're taking briefings at the official level and I think the next stop for me is with Eric Abetz to work out how we are going to solve it for the long term," Ms Gallagher said.
"Jamie Briggs was very receptive to the work we have put in place and I think agreeing that we need to get some definitive advice on whether houses can be remediated to 100 per cent or not.
"That is going to be the next critical decision point," she said.
Ms Gallagher said decisions on clean up or demolition of homes would be made after advice from Commonwealth and ACT health and safety experts.
"If the answer to that is no, then you move pretty quickly to working out what we are going to do about it. If the answer is yes, then I think the question goes to how we are going to make sure we can do that properly," she said.
Dealing with more than 1000 homes which had the product pumped into roof and wall spaces has not been a political issue, Ms Gallagher said.
The comments came before a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the first since the addition of MLA Mick Gentleman and a reshuffle of portfolios.
Many homes in the ACT, Queanbeyan and on the NSW south coast were missed by a $100 million federal government-funded removal program in the 1980s and '90s.
The Real Estate Institute of the ACT will hold a forum on Wednesday to explain the responsibilities of agents and property managers in dealing with Mr Fluffy homes.
REIACT chief executive Ron Bell said he expected as many as 200 real estate agents and property managers to attend, with representatives of the Office of Regulatory Services, WorkSafe ACT and legal advisers to address the meeting.
Mr Bell said the penalties for non-disclosure of asbestos in homes by agents are severe and the entire industry needed to be aware of their responsibilities.
He said it was unfair for real estate agents and property managers to be singled out by officials as being delinquent in their dealings with contaminated properties and potential buyers.
The briefing will take place at Woden's Hellenic Club on Wednesday from 9am.
Fluffy Owners and Residents' Action Group spokeswoman Brianna Heseltine said a residents meeting held on Sunday welcomed the government assistance package.
"It's a really stressful time for families when they find out their living areas are contaminated and they are told to leave," Ms Heseltine said.
"The meeting also showed our elected leaders that people have understandable concerns about exposure in their homes.
"People expressed a strong desire to gain information about their health risks, and they responded really well to a suggestion that the Chief Minister would be willing to attend a separate health forum with residents and the Chief Health Officer."
