The engineered stone ban and your new benchtop
Stone protection · 5 min read · Updated 26 August 2026
From 1 July 2024, high silica engineered stone was banned right across Australia, and it quietly changed what Victorian kitchens are built from. Thousands of Melbourne homes have had a new, silica free benchtop fitted since. If yours is one of them, here is what changed, and why the best moment to protect a benchtop is before you have so much as chopped an onion on it.
What actually changed
The ban was aimed at the fine silica dust that made engineered stone genuinely dangerous for the people cutting and fitting it. It is a workplace safety measure, and a good one, and it pushed the market toward silica free surfaces.
For new kitchens in 2026 that mostly means sintered stone and porcelain, sitting alongside natural stone like marble and granite. They are made or quarried in very different ways, but from where you stand in your kitchen they share one thing. They still mark.
Silica free doesn't mean damage proof
Sintered and porcelain tops are hard and they take heat well, but they can still scratch, chip along an edge, and depending on the surface and finish, show etch marks and grey metal marks off your cookware. Natural stone etches and stains the way it always has.
Silica free is about how safe the material is to make and cut. It says nothing about how it holds up to a busy family on the island bench.
Why protect it on day one
A brand new benchtop is at its most perfect the moment it is installed, and at its most vulnerable in exactly the same breath. Those first few months of normal life are when the first scratches and marks arrive.
Laying a clear film while the top is still flawless means day one keeps on looking like day one. It is far easier and far cheaper than trying to hide damage after the fact, and it does not change the look of the stone you chose.
New kitchen? The order of play
If your benchtop is fresh in, or about to be:
- Ask the fabricator what the specific surface needs, since some sintered tops come with their own care notes.
- Book protection film before the kitchen goes into heavy use.
- Keep boards and trivets within reach from the very first day.
Talk to Matera
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Common questions
- Is sintered or porcelain stone scratch proof?
- No surface truly is. Sintered and porcelain tops are hard and heat tolerant, but they can still scratch, chip at the edges and show marks. A clear film adds a layer that takes that wear for them.
- Do silica free benchtops still etch?
- Natural stone still etches from acid, and some sintered or porcelain finishes can dull or metal mark too. Protecting the surface takes that risk off the stone itself.
- When's the best time to add protection film?
- Before the kitchen goes into everyday use, while the top is still flawless. It is easier and cheaper than dealing with marks once they show up.