The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations have advised that the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Engineered Stone) Regulations 2024 has now been agreed by the Federal Executive Council. The regulations enact the import prohibition on engineered stone benchtops, slabs and panels, which will begin on 1 January 2025 and will complement the existing domestic prohibition under OHS laws.
Whilst there has been an effective prohibition on the manufacture and use in Victoria since 1 July 2024, in other states of Australia the ban is yet to come into effect.
Also, the inaugural Silica National Strategic Plan 2024-2030, which has been developed by the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency (ASSEA), has now been formally endorsed by Commonwealth, state and territory governments.
The ban aligns with the changes lobbied for by the CFMEU and others to ban the importation, manufacture and use of engineered stone in Australia, and aims to safeguard workers from silicosis, a lung disease caused by respirable crystalline silica, which has tragically caused too many deaths.
The importation ban will provide an extra layer of deterrence at the border. Most engineered stone products are imported into Australia.
Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said “From the start of next year, it won’t only be illegal to install these products. It will be illegal to bring them into the country at all.”
Read more: Engineered stone importation ban to start January 1 | Ministers' Media Centre