Controlled Substances (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (15:37): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Controlled Substances Act 1984. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (15:38): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill will make three technical amendments to the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (the CS Act)—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I cannot hear the minister speaking.

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS: —to provide users with clarity. It also takes into account an agreement at a national level to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses by achieving nationally consistent poisons regulation. Clause 4 of this bill will simplify the legislation, making it easier for users to find requirements by prescribing all information that retailers must record when selling schedule 7 poisons under the Controlled Substances (Poisons) Regulations 2011 (the Poisons Regulations).

Schedule 7 poisons are dangerous poisons used for agricultural or industrial purposes such as arsenic, cyanide or strychnine. These poisons have a high potential for harm at low exposures and require special precautions during handling. There are currently requirements in the Controlled Substances Act, as well as the Poisons Regulations, for the retailer to keep records of information including the name, address and occupation of the purchaser, the date and purpose for purchasing the poison, and the name, form, strength and quantity of the purchased poison.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) identified inconsistent poisons regulation as an area of reform in the National Partnership Agreement to deliver seamless national economy to our country. Record keeping requirements for schedule 7 poisons transactions is one of the regulatory areas that is inconsistent between jurisdictions and poses compliance costs for businesses operating across borders.

A set of uniform controls over poisons that includes the information recorded about schedule 7 poison sales was developed by the Australian poisons regulators. The controls were agreed nationally at the Council of Australian Governments Health Council on behalf of COAG to achieve consistent regulation of poisons to reduce regulatory burden on businesses. All jurisdictions have agreed to amend their relevant legislation to reflect these uniform controls, and the completion of the reform process is expected to end in 2017.

Referring to the national uniform control will reduce the amount of information retailers need to record by removing the uniquely South Australian requirement to record the purpose of purchase of the schedule 7 poison. This change will not reduce overall regulatory oversight of the supply chain for schedule 7 poisons because another requirement under the Controlled Substances Act requires retailers to satisfactorily determine the purpose of purchase before proceeding with the sale, and a requirement under the national uniform control requires retailers to record proof of the purchaser's authority to purchase poison that indicates the purchaser's occupation and context of use.

This bill will assist South Australian businesses by harmonising and reducing the amount of information to record, particularly those businesses that operate across state and territory borders by removing the need for them to understand and comply with multiple sets of inconsistent regulations. The major retailer of schedule 7 poisons in South Australia supports this amendment to achieve national consistency.

Clause 5 of this bill clarifies the regulation of schedule 4 prescription drugs such as antibiotics for users of the Controlled Substances Act. The Controlled Substances Act empowers me to grant a licence to organisations such as the South Australian Museum, the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League to possess schedule 4 prescription drugs to administer to animals and to apply conditions to these licences to control this activity. Licensing enables these organisations to operate effectively without posing a risk to public safety.

Prior to 2011, the Controlled Substances Act made reference to a person being permitted to administer a schedule 4 prescription drug to an animal if the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse had licensed that person to do so. Changes to the Controlled Substances Act in 2011 inadvertently omitted this reference. This clause will return to the previous provisions by reinstating the reference to a person being permitted to administer schedule 4 prescription drugs to animals when I have licensed them to do so.

Clause 6 of this bill will clarify that the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse shall have the power to issue a prohibition order against a person who has sold a prescription drug in an irresponsible manner to prevent the person from doing so again in the future. Section 57 of the Controlled Substances Act is intended to apply particularly to pharmacists to prevent potentially dangerous sales of prescription drugs.

I have been advised that when a pharmacist dispenses a prescription, they are selling the medicine to the consumer, not supplying it, and that the terms 'supply' and 'sell' are not used interchangeably in the Controlled Substances Act. This clause will make reference to 'selling' as well as 'supplying' drugs to remove any ambiguity around the nature of activities I may consider in forming the opinion that a prohibition order should be issued. I commend the bill to members. I seek leave to have the explanation of the clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

Clauses 1 to 3 are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Controlled Substances Act 1984

4—Amendment of section 16—Sale of certain poisons

This clause amends section 16 of the Act so that all the information that must be recorded by a person who sells poisons to which section 16 applies will be prescribed by the regulations.

5—Amendment of section 18—Regulation of prescription drugs

This clause amends section 18 of the Act so that a person may administer a prescription drug (other than a drug of dependence) to another person, or to an animal, if the person is licensed to do so by the Minister.

6—Amendment of section 57—Power of Minister to prohibit certain activities

This clause amends section 57 of the Act so that the Minister is empowered to prohibit a person from manufacturing, producing, packaging, selling, supplying, prescribing, administering, using or having possession of a substance or device if the person has, in the opinion of the Minister, sold a prescription drug in an irresponsible manner.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.

At 15:44 the house adjourned until Tuesday 26 July 2016 at 11:00.