Key Points
- Engineered stone has been dubbed a modern-day asbestos.
- The timeline for the transition period will be agreed on when the ministers meet again in March.
- Exceptions will be put in place for the removal or repair of engineered stone that has already been installed.
Engineered stone will be banned across Australia from next year after states and territories signed off on the measure to protect workers.
The ban will come into effect from 1 July, following an agreement by workplace ministers at a meeting on Wednesday.
Australia is the first nation in the world to announce a ban on engineered stone.
The product had been dubbed , with workers who used it often developing the incurable and deadly lung disease silicosis.
Engineered stone is commonly used in kitchen bench tops.
As part of the national ban, the federal government has indicated it would put in place a compulsory customs prohibition on engineered stone being imported to Australia.
The national ban was endorsed following , which was commissioned by workplace ministers, calling for a countrywide prohibition.
While such a ban was deemed in the report to be the most expensive option, it said it would protect workers from developing health conditions.
The CFMEU had previously said it would implement its own ban from July next year should the government not institute its own prohibition.
Hardware chains Bunnings and Mitre 10 said they would phase out selling the product.
What has the reaction to the ban been?
Safe Work Australia said the ban would make Australian workplaces "safer and healthier".
"Workplace exposure to respirable crystalline silica has led to an unacceptable increase in the number of cases of silicosis and other silica-related diseases," Safe Work Australia chief executive Marie Boland said in a statement.
"The vast majority of silicosis cases identified in recent years are in engineered stone workers. Many of these cases are in younger workers who are experiencing faster disease progression and higher mortality.
"The cost to industry, while real and relevant, cannot outweigh the significant costs to workers, their families and the broader Australian community."
The CFMEU also welcomed the ban, describing it as "life-saving".
"This announcement is a massive victory for people like Kyle Goodwin, the former stonemason who bravely fronted our union's campaign after contracting incurable silicosis from simply from doing his job," CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said in a statement.
"Kyle selflessly dedicated a huge chunk of his remaining days to stopping other workers from being given the same unthinkable diagnosis.
"Like Bernie Banton and asbestos, Kyle Goodwin's name deserves to be inextricably linked to the ban on engineered stone."
The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) said while the engineered stone ban should be "celebrated", more needed to be done to protect workers' wellbeing.
"Engineered stone is the most obvious and clear example of a dangerous product. There are others. Perhaps less immediate in their impact, perhaps less potent, but still unfairly stealing the good health of honest, hard-working people in Australia," PHAA achieve executive Terry Slevin said.
"Efforts to reduce that harm to make work – all work – safer and healthier remain an important priority."
