Three departmental staff were hit by tiles in a partial ceiling collapse at a Brisbane highrise where the federal cabinet was meeting.
Police say three women were hurt at Waterfront Place but the security of the prime minister and his team was never at risk.
The women have minor injuries, with two taken to hospital, and police say Malcolm Turnbull and his cabinet may not have been aware of the incident, which happened on Tuesday morning in the reception area on the 36th floor, where government offices are located.
“The prime minister was here at the time, in a meeting and in an adjoining room, [when] tiles fell from the ceiling and struck three parliamentary staff,” Insp Daniel Bragg told reporters from the scene. “It was just a workplace accident.”
He said three tiles, each measuring a metre by a metre, had fallen. “I’m advised that the prime minister probably isn’t even aware. He was in an adjoining room. He wasn’t alerted at the time.
“I don’t think there were great concerns that it was something bigger that what it had been.”
An ambulance service inspector, Glen Morrison, said two women had been taken to hospital with minor injuries. “They are generally minor abrasions and grazes,” he said.