Division 1 Restrictions on possession, manufacture, supply, etc, of drugs of addiction
23 Possession and supply of drugs of addiction by carers
Despite any other provision of or made under this or any other Act, a person who has the care of, or is assisting in the care of, another person (for or to whom the supply of a drug of addiction has been authorised by the prescription of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, midwife practitioner or dentist) is not guilty of an offence in relation to the possession or supply of the drug if the person is in possession of the drug for the sole purpose of administering, or assisting in the self-administration of, the drug to the other person and does so in accordance with that prescription.
24 Regulations under Division 1 of Part 4
(1) Without limiting the generality of section 45C, the Governor may, for the purpose of preventing the improper use of drugs of addiction, make regulations under this Division for or with respect to:(a) prohibiting the manufacture of any drug of addiction except on premises licensed for the purpose and subject to the conditions specified in the licence,(b) prohibiting the manufacture or supply of any such drug except by persons licensed or otherwise authorised under the regulations and subject to any conditions specified in the licence or authority,(c) prohibiting the issue by persons other than medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, midwife practitioners, dentists or veterinary practitioners of prescriptions containing any such drug,(d) prohibiting or regulating the issue by medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, midwife practitioners, dentists or veterinary practitioners of prescriptions containing any such drug, the dispensing of such prescriptions, and the supply of any such drugs thereunder,(e) requiring persons engaged in the manufacture or supply of any such drug to keep such books and furnish such information either in writing or otherwise to such persons as may be prescribed, and making provision for the inspection of such books and records by prescribed persons,(f) fixing the fees to be paid in respect of any licence, inspection, permit, or authority made or issued under the regulations,(g) providing for the forfeiture of any such drug unlawfully in the possession of any person,(h) providing that any specified breach of the regulations shall be regarded as “misconduct in a professional respect” within the meaning of any Act,(h1) prohibiting or regulating the administering, otherwise than on the order of a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, midwife practitioner or dentist, of any drug of addiction, and(i) generally, regulating and controlling the manufacture, possession and supply of drugs of addiction.(j) (Repealed)(2) Regulations shall be made under this Division making provision for or with respect to:(a) authorising pharmacists to be in possession of any drug of addiction for the purposes of:(i) manufacturing at their respective shops in the ordinary course of their respective retail businesses any preparation, admixture, or extract of that drug, and(ii) carrying on at their respective shops the business of supplying, dispensing, or compounding that drug,(b) authorising medical practitioners, pharmacists employed in dispensing medicines at any public hospital or other institution, dentists and veterinary practitioners to be in possession of and to supply, in the lawful practice of their professions as such, any drug of addiction, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed,(b1) authorising nurse practitioners or midwife practitioners employed in dispensing medicines at any public hospital or other institution to be in possession of and to supply, in the lawful practice of their professions as such, any drug of addiction, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed,(c) authorising persons in charge of laboratories for the purpose of research or instruction, and such other persons as to the Minister may seem proper to be in possession of any drug of addiction for the purposes of their professions or employments, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed,(d) the issue, grant and renewal of licences or authorities for the purposes of this Division by the Director-General on such terms and subject to such conditions (including in the case of a licence the payment of a fee) as the Director-General thinks proper, and(e) the withdrawal and suspension of any such licence or authority by the Director-General.(f) (Repealed)(2A), (3) (Repealed)(4)(a) A general licence to manufacture drugs of addiction shall not be issued.(b) A licence to manufacture drugs of addiction shall be limited to the manufacture of a particular drug or drugs specified in the licence.(c) Several licences to manufacture drugs of addiction may be issued to the same person.(5) Subject to this Division, a regulation made under this Division may apply:(a) to all drugs of addiction, to any such drug specified in the regulation, or to all such drugs other than those so specified, and(b) to all persons, to persons or classes of persons specified in the regulations, or to all persons other than persons or classes of persons so specified.
25 Further offences against this Division
Any person:(a) (Repealed)(b) who acts in contravention of or fails to comply with the conditions of any licence issued or authority granted under or in pursuance of this Division, or(c) who, for the purpose of obtaining, whether for himself or herself or for any other person, the issue, grant, or renewal of any such licence or authority as aforesaid, makes any declaration or statement which is false in any particular, or knowingly utters, produces, or makes use of any such declaration or statement or a document containing such a declaration or statement,shall be guilty of an offence against this Division.
(1) Every person guilty of an offence against this Division shall in respect of each offence be liable to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or to both such fine and imprisonment, and the court convicting any such person may order that any article in respect of which the offence was committed shall be forfeited to Her Majesty.(2) The court before which the offender was convicted of an offence against this Division may order any forfeited articles to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the court thinks fit.(3) No person shall, on conviction for any offence of contravening or failing to comply with the conditions of any licence issued or authority granted under the regulations made under this Division to supply a drug of addiction or any regulation relating to the keeping of books or the issuing or dispensing of prescriptions containing a drug of addiction, be sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine or to pay a fine exceeding 1 penalty unit, if the court dealing with the case is satisfied that the offence was committed through inadvertence and was not preparatory to or committed in the course of or in connection with the commission or intended commission of any other offence against this Division.(4) Any person who attempts to commit an offence against this Division, or solicits or incites another person to commit such an offence, shall, without prejudice to any other liability, be liable to the same punishment and forfeiture as if the person had committed an offence against this Division.(5) (Repealed)(6) In any proceedings against a person for an offence against this Division it shall not be necessary to negative by evidence any licence, authority, or other matter of exception or defence, and the burden of proving any such matter shall lie on the person seeking to avail himself or herself of the matter.
Division 2 Restrictions on prescribing drugs of addiction
In this Division:drug dependent person means a person who has acquired, as a result of repeated administration of:
(a) a drug of addiction, or(b) a prohibited drug within the meaning of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985,an overpowering desire for the continued administration of such a drug.
28 Prohibition on prescribing drugs of addiction in certain cases
(1) A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must not, without the proper authority, prescribe for or supply to any person a type A drug of addiction.(2) A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must not, without the proper authority, prescribe or supply a type B drug of addiction:(a) for continuous therapeutic use by a person for a period exceeding 2 months, or(b) for a period that, together with any other period for which that drug or any other type B drug of addiction has been prescribed or supplied by the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner or has, to the medical practitioner’s or nurse practitioner’s knowledge, been prescribed or supplied by any other medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, would result in that drug, or that drug together with any other such drug, being prescribed or supplied for continuous therapeutic use for a period exceeding 2 months.(3) A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner must not, without the proper authority, prescribe for or supply to a person who, in the opinion of the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, is a drug dependent person a type C drug of addiction.(4) For the purposes of this section, the proper authority means an authority under section 29 that authorises the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to prescribe or supply the drug of addiction to the person concerned.(5) A drug of addiction may be prescribed for or supplied to a person by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner without the proper authority if the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner is authorised by the regulations to prescribe or supply the drug without an authority under section 29.(6) In this section:type A drug of addiction means a drug of addiction prescribed by the regulations under this section as a type A drug of addiction.
type B drug of addiction means a drug of addiction prescribed by the regulations under this section as a type B drug of addiction.
type C drug of addiction means any drug of addiction (other than a type A drug of addiction).
28A Approval of prescribers of drugs of addiction
(1) The Director-General may, on the recommendation of the Medical Committee, approve a medical practitioner as a prescriber of drugs of addiction.(2) Application for such an approval must be made to the Director-General in writing and must be referred by the Director-General to the Medical Committee for its recommendation.(3) An applicant must provide the Director-General:(a) in the application, and(b) before approval of the application,with such information relevant to the application as the Director-General requires.(4) The Director-General may give an unconditional approval or an approval subject to specified conditions.(5) An approval given subject to conditions is ineffective unless the conditions are complied with.(6) The Director-General may, on the recommendation of the Medical Committee:(a) revoke an approval or a condition of an approval,(b) amend a condition of an approval,(c) impose a condition of an approval that was an unconditional approval, or(d) impose an additional condition of an approval.(7) The Director-General may, pending receipt of a recommendation for the purposes of subsection (6) or before referring the matter to the Medical Committee for a recommendation if the circumstances are sufficiently urgent to require immediate action:(a) suspend an approval, or(b) impose or amend a condition of an approval.(8) The Director-General may arrange for an approval to be referred from time to time to the Medical Committee for review and a report and recommendation to the Director-General as a result of the review.(9) Nothing in this section prevents the Director-General from refusing an application or from referring for report and recommendation by the Medical Committee any question arising under this section.(10) For the purposes of subsection (7), the circumstances are sufficiently urgent to require immediate action with respect to a medical practitioner’s approval if the Director-General is of the opinion that the action is necessary for the purpose of protecting the life, or the physical or mental health, of the medical practitioner or any other person (whether or not any other such person is identifiable).
29 Director-General may authorise prescription or supply of drugs of addiction
(1) An application for the authority of the Director-General referred to in section 28 is to be in a form approved by the Director-General.(2) Any such application may be referred by the Director-General to the Medical Committee.(3) The Director-General may give an authority for the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner by whom any such application is made to prescribe for or supply to the person to whom the application relates any drug of addiction specified in that authority for the purpose of the treatment of that person.(4) Where the Director-General refers an application to the Medical Committee, the Director-General shall take into consideration any report of that Committee relating to that application made before the authority is granted.(4A) If an application has been referred to the Medical Committee under subsection (2), the Director-General may issue a temporary authority to the applicant expiring on a specified date that is not later than 4 months after its issue.(5) An authority (whether or not a temporary authority):(a) may specify the maximum quantity of the drug of addiction that may be so prescribed or supplied by the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner,(b) may specify the period for which any such drug may be so prescribed or supplied,(c) may be given subject to such conditions as the Director-General thinks fit and specifies in the authority, and(d) is to be in a form approved by the Director-General.(6) Any such authority given verbally shall be confirmed in writing or by electronic communication as soon as practicable after it is given.(7) The Director-General may revoke an authority (including a temporary authority) given under this section.(8) The Director-General may arrange for an authority to be referred from time to time to the Medical Committee for review and a report and recommendation to the Director-General as a result of the review.
(1) The Minister shall constitute a Medical Committee for the purposes of this Division.(2) The Medical Committee shall consist of:(a) a medical practitioner nominated by the Australian Medical Association (NSW) Limited,(b) a medical practitioner nominated by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, New South Wales State Committee, and(c) a medical practitioner nominated by the Minister.(3) If within the time specified by the Minister in a notice in writing served on the Australian Medical Association (NSW) Limited, or the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, New South Wales State Committee, as the case may be, a medical practitioner is not nominated for the purpose of subsection (2) (a) or (b) the Minister may appoint any medical practitioner to be a member of the Medical Committee in the place of the member referred to in subsection (2) (a) or (b), as the case may be.(4) The Medical Committee shall consider every application referred to it under section 28A or 29 (2) and shall, as soon as practicable after the application is referred to it, furnish to the Director-General a report in writing containing a recommendation whether or not an approval or authority of the kind applied for should be given and whether, if given, it should be unconditional or subject to specified conditions.(5) A member of the Medical Committee is entitled to be paid such remuneration (including travelling and subsistence allowances) as the Minister may from time to time determine in respect of the member.
30AA Power of Medical Committee to obtain information
(1) This section applies if:(a) under section 28A (8) or 29 (8) the Director-General refers an approval or an authority to the Medical Committee for review, and(b) the review of the approval or authority is with respect to a possible contravention of this Act or the regulations, or a failure to comply with any conditions to which the approval or authority is subject.(2) For the purposes of conducting the review and preparing its report and the recommendation, the Medical Committee may require the Health Care Complaints Commission, the Medical Council of New South Wales, the Medical Board of Australia, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales or the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to provide the Medical Committee with any information in the Commission’s, Council’s or Board’s possession that is relevant to the Medical Committee’s review.(3) A requirement made by the Medical Committee under this section must be made in writing.(4) The Health Care Complaints Commission, the Medical Council of New South Wales, the Medical Board of Australia, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia must comply with any reasonable requirement given to the Commission, Council or Board under this section.(5) This section applies despite any provision of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993 or the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.(6) (Repealed)
(1) The Medical Committee may establish subcommittees to assist it in the exercise of its functions.(2) It does not matter that any or all of the members of a subcommittee are not members of the Medical Committee.(3) The procedure for the calling of meetings of a subcommittee and for the conduct of business at those meetings shall be as determined by the Medical Committee or (subject to any determination by the Medical Committee) by the subcommittee.
The Medical Committee may delegate to a subcommittee of the Medical Committee any of its functions other than:(a) this power of delegation, and(b) any function required by the regulations to be exercised only by the Medical Committee.