Silica dust: Policy context & impact 

National, State and Territory laws and policies, work health and safety laws and regulations and enforceable workplace exposure standards (WES) play a crucial role in reducing respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure and silica-related diseases, including lung cancer. Responsibility for the elimination, and where necessary control, of silica dust exposure is shared across all levels of government.

Banning of Engineered Stone in Australia

In response to a rise in silicosis diagnoses in engineered stone workers, the Australian Government implemented a ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone in 2024.¹ This decision was based on recommendations made by Safe Work Australia in their ‘Decision Regulation Impact Statement: Prohibition on the use of engineered stone’,² along with significant and coordinated advocacy.

Whilst the prohibition of engineered stone was a significant step forward in reducing workers' exposure to RCS, numerous other common materials contain silica (i.e., sandstone, asphalt, and cement).³ Due to this, stronger regulations were introduced in 2024 on the use of any materials that consist of 1% or more crystalline silica.⁴ These included greater restrictions on the need to assess risks and implement controls, based on the hierarchy of controls, when working with these substances.⁵

National Initiatives and Frameworks

National Dust Disease Taskforce

The National Dust Disease Taskforce released their final report in 2021 in response to the concerning trend of new silicosis cases in Australia. This report provided key recommendations to the federal and state governments on strategies to reduce the incidence of silicosis among workers and increase the quality of life for people affected and their families.⁶ Following this report, the Australian and State and Territory Governments outlined their commitment to the recommendations within the report in an all of governments' response.

The Silica National Strategic Plan 2024-30

Developed by the Lung Foundation Australia’s Expert Steering Committee and Reference Group, and implemented by the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency, the Silica National Strategic Plan 2024-30 outlines national activities to prevent silica dust exposure and eliminate silica-related diseases in Australia.⁷

National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry

Implemented in 2024, the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry was an important development in providing access to data on occupational respiratory diseases in Australia such as silicosis. Currently, silicosis is the only mandated disease that must be recorded in the registry for all states and territories, besides Queensland who have additional requirements. It is optional to report lung cancers from RCS exposure in the registry, impacting the accuracy of the data. This registry helps to understand the prevalence of occupational respiratory disease, observe emerging trends and provide data to help develop early intervention strategies and evidence-based research and policy to protect the health of Australian workers.⁸

Work Health and Safety Bodies and Regulators in Australia

Work health and safety (WHS) laws in Australia are individually legislated and regulated by each state, territory, and the Commonwealth. These laws are mostly aligned across jurisdictions through a set of standardised regulations known as the model WHS laws. Every jurisdiction, except for Victoria, has adopted the model WHS laws.

SafeWork Australia

SafeWork Australia is a national policy organisation jointly funded by the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments to, amongst other activities, develop and maintain the model WHS laws. SafeWork Australia does not regulate these laws; however, the organisation plays a key role in developing policy and strategy to implement and improve compliance with WHS laws.⁹

Comcare

Comcare is the authority for work health and safety, and workers’ compensation covered by the Safety Rehabilitation Compensation Act. Comcare develops compliance and enforcement policies to support their regulatory actions.¹⁰

State and territory WHS regulators 

State and territory WHS regulators enforce WHS laws in their respective jurisdictions and administer worker’s compensation arrangements. Due to this, WHS laws and enforcement strategies can vary between jurisdictions.

Impact

Reducing occupational exposure to RCS has the potential to significantly decrease the incidence of lung cancer and other silica-related diseases among Australians. In Australia, about 270 people develop lung cancer each year due to past exposure to RCS at work.¹¹ It is estimated that within a working cohort of 18.7 million Australians, 10,390 future cases of lung cancer would arise as a direct result of RCS exposure,¹² and the banning of engineered stone will prevent 100 lung cancer cases in Australia.¹³

Lung cancer is a leading cause of disease burden in Australia, for more information see Lung Cancer Early Detection Policy.