Controlled Substances Act 1984

A person must not prescribe for a person or an animal a drug of dependence except as follows:

a registered health practitioner may prescribe a drug of dependence for a person if the practitioner is acting in the ordinary course of the practitioner's profession and—

the practitioner is a dentist, medical practitioner or nurse practitioner; or

the practitioner is a registered health practitioner whose registration is endorsed under section 94 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law as being qualified to prescribe a scheduled medicine or class of scheduled medicines and the drug is a scheduled medicine or of a class of scheduled medicines specified in the endorsement; or

the practitioner is authorised to prescribe the drug by the regulations;

a veterinarian may prescribe a drug of dependence for an animal if the veterinarian is acting in the ordinary course of the veterinarian's profession. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $10 000 or imprisonment for 2 years.

A registered health practitioner must not prescribe any drug of dependence for, or supply any drug of dependence to—

a person for regular use by the person during a period exceeding 2 months, or during a period that, together with any other period for which a drug of dependence has, to the practitioner's knowledge, been prescribed or supplied by a registered health practitioner, would result in drugs of dependence being regularly used by the person during a period exceeding 2 months; or

a person who the practitioner knows or has reasonable cause to believe is dependent on drugs, unless the practitioner prescribes or supplies the drug in accordance with an authority granted by the Minister under this section or in circumstances that are exempted from this subsection by the regulations. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $4 000 or imprisonment for 4 years.

For the purposes of this section, a person is dependent on drugs if—

the person—

has acquired, as a result of the repeated administration of prescription drugs or controlled drugs, an overpowering desire for the continued administration of such drugs; and

is likely to suffer mental or physical distress or disorder on cessation of the administration of such drugs; or

the person has a history of consuming or using prescription drugs or controlled drugs in a quantity or manner that—

in the case of drugs lawfully supplied to the person—is contrary to the prescribing practitioner's instructions relating to consumption or use of the drug; and

in any case—presents a risk to the person's health.

An application for the authority of the Minister to prescribe or supply a drug of dependence under this section must—

be made in a manner and form approved by the Minister by the registered health practitioner who proposes to prescribe or supply the drug; and

include such information as the Minister may require.

The Minister may give an authority to the registered health practitioner by whom any such application is made to prescribe for or supply to the person to whom the application relates a drug of dependence specified in the authority for therapeutic purposes.

An authority to prescribe or supply a drug of dependence—

will be given in a manner and form determined by the Minister; and

will specify—

the quantity of the drug of dependence that may be so prescribed or supplied by the registered health practitioner to whom the authority is given; and

the period for which any such drug may be so prescribed or supplied.

In the case of an emergency the Minister may issue a registered health practitioner authorised to prescribe a drug of dependence a temporary authority to prescribe or supply a drug of dependence under this section.

A temporary authority—

may be applied for, and given, orally; and

cannot operate in respect of a period longer than 2 months.

An authority or temporary authority given under this section—

may be subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit; and

may be varied or revoked by the Minister at any time by notice given to the holder of the authority or temporary authority in a manner and form determined by the Minister.