The Albanese Government has introduced legislation to identify and eliminate the causes of deadly occupational respiratory diseases like silicosis.
The National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry Bill 2023 establishes a national registry for reporting of all occupational respiratory diseases, with the reporting of silicosis to be mandatory.
Nearly one in four engineered stone workers who have been in the industry prior to 2018 have been diagnosed with silicosis or other silica dust related diseases. This number is predicted to rise, most notably among young men.
Establishing a National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry was a key recommendation of the National Dust Diseases Taskforce, which was set up due to concerns about an increasing number of new cases of accelerated silicosis among people working in the engineered stone benchtop sector.
As recommended by the taskforce, specialists in respiratory, sleep, occupational and environmental medicine will be required to notify the registry of every diagnosis of occupationally caused silicosis. They may also notify the registry of other occupational respiratory diseases, with the patient's consent.
The registry is an important next step in supporting the early detection and prevention of workplace risks, and developing strategies to protect workers from further exposure.
Information from the national registry will be disclosed to state and territory authorities with responsibility for protecting workers from respiratory diseases.
The Government has committed $2.4 million for the operation of the national registry through to 2025-26.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney MP:
"Silicosis can have a devastating impact on workers and their loved ones - this is an entirely preventable illness, and all too often leads to entirely preventable deaths.
"The new national registry is another important step forward to support early detection of new cases and identify workplaces and industries that require greater scrutiny.
"We are acting now to ensure workplace safety authorities have accurate information about the number and types of cases of occupational respiratory diseases."
