Since 1 July 2024 it has been an offence, under the work health and safety laws of the Commonwealth and every state and territory, for a business “to carry out, or to direct or allow a worker to carry out, work involving the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs.” Natural stone such as granite is not banned, as SafeWork NSW and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland both say, and WorkSafe Tasmania says there is no need to remove engineered stone from your home, because it poses no health risk if left undisturbed.
How the ban came in
- 13 December 2023
Safe Work Australia records that “WHS ministers unanimously agreed to ban the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone from 1 July 2024.” SafeWork SA explains that the decision followed a recommendation from Safe Work Australia, made on expert advice about rising silicosis among engineered stone workers.
- 1 July 2024
The ban took effect. Safe Work Australia published the amendments to the model regulations, but for the ban to have effect “each jurisdiction must make amendments to their own WHS laws.”
- 1 September 2024
Tighter rules started for work with any material that is at least 1% crystalline silica, in every industry, and they reach permitted engineered stone work too.
- 31 December 2024
SASouth Australia’s transition ended. Until then, installation could go ahead only where the contract to supply and install the stone was entered into on or before 31 December 2023.
- 1 January 2025
Engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs “became prohibited imports under regulation 5M of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.”
- 2025
Exemptions began allowing a removed benchtop to go back in its place, among them Queensland’s from 13 January 2025 and NSW’s from 9 May 2025. They have their own guide: lifting a stone benchtop for cabinet repairs.
What is banned, and what is not
Safe Work Australia is precise about the reach: “The ban only applies to engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs.” A product is caught only if it is in one of those forms and meets every part of the definition. WorkSafe Tasmania sets the definition out as an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica by weight, is made by combining natural stone materials with other ingredients such as water, resins or pigments, and then hardens. Products with less than 1% crystalline silica “are not subject to the ban.”
What the state pages say is not banned:
- NSWNatural stone benchtops, panels or slabs, such as granite, and “Finished engineered stone products such as jewellery, garden ornaments, sculptures or kitchen sinks”.
- QLDNatural stone, and products made of porcelain or sintered stone.
- WAA list of products currently excluded, among them porcelain, sintered stone, ceramic wall and floor tiles, and finished engineered stone products that need no processing.
Not banned is not the same as dust-free. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland says businesses still owe a duty to workers processing natural stone, and that processing sintered stone and porcelain, which also produce dust, must be controlled. The guide to silica dust and benchtop work covers those duties.
Each state’s part
- NSWSafeWork NSW: “Any work involving the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone was banned on 1 July 2024.”
- VICWorkSafe Victoria says the work is banned in Victoria from 1 July 2024, with limited exceptions that include disposal. Disposed stone should go as industrial waste, following EPA Victoria’s classification requirements, and it must not be processed into crushed rock unless an exception applies.
- QLDQueensland chose no transitional period: since 1 July 2024 the work had to stop even where contracts were signed before then.
- WAWorkSafe WA counts stone installed before 1 July 2024, and stock not yet installed, as legacy engineered stone, and says a business needs to notify it before removing, repairing, making minor modifications to or disposing of engineered stone.
- SARemoval, repair and minor modification of stone installed before 1 July 2024 are permitted, and so is disposal, with SafeWork SA notified in advance of any permitted minor works.
- TASThe ban took effect in Tasmania on 1 July 2024, and removing, repairing, making minor modifications to or disposing of legacy stone in a way that needs processing must be notified to WorkSafe Tasmania.
- ACTThe WHS Commissioner has put a conditional exemption in place for reinstalling existing engineered stone.
- NTNT WorkSafe’s guidance for businesses dates the prohibition from 1 July 2024.
Victoria is the exception on paperwork. Safe Work Australia’s code of practice notes that Victoria does not require businesses to notify it of permitted work with legacy engineered stone, while WorkSafe Victoria still requires specific controls whenever that work involves an engineered stone process.
If your kitchen already has one
Work on stone already installed is still allowed for limited purposes. In Safe Work Australia’s words, processing legacy engineered stone remains allowed for “removing, repairing, making minor modifications or disposal of installed engineered stone”, and for disposal of engineered stone whether installed or not. It adds that a business doing that work must notify the WHS regulator before it starts and must make sure any processing is controlled; Victoria’s exception on notifying is set out above. Disposal must follow the waste rules of your state or territory, as WorkSafe WA and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland both say.
Leave the stone to a qualified trade
Safe Work Australia: “It is important that you don’t undertake any work with engineered stone yourself if you are not qualified.” WorkSafe Tasmania gives the reason: cutting, grinding, trimming, drilling, sanding or polishing can create silica dust that can be harmful when breathed in.
A cabinetmaker or stonemason working under the ban can explain which products they can supply and fit for a new kitchen. For a top that has to come off for repairs, the reinstallation guide sets out each state’s conditions.