The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons, abbreviated SUSMP, is a document used in the regulation of drugs and poisons in Australia. It is produced by the National Drugs and Poisons Scheduling Committee (NDPSC), a committee of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The SUSMP contains the decisions of the NDPSC in the aim of standardising the scheduling and packaging/labelling of substances throughout Australia, where such regulation lies within the jurisdiction of the individual State governments. The SUSMP is only a recommendation to the States, however, and differences still exist in the regulation of drugs and poisons between Australian states.
There are eight schedules included in the SUSMP:
This schedule is no longer used. Section 8(2) of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW) describes Schedule 1 as, "substances which are of such extreme danger to life as to warrant their being supplied only by medical practitioners, nurse practitioners authorised...pharmacists, dentists, veterinary surgeons or persons licensed.
Schedule 2 (S2) drugs and poisons, otherwise known as Pharmacy Medicines, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that:
Examples include:
The location of these medications in the pharmacy varies from state to state.
Schedule 3 (S3) drugs and poisons, otherwise known as Pharmacist Only Medicines, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that:
Some states have subsets of Schedule 3 with additional requirements (see below). Only some Schedule 3 medicines may be advertised to the public.
Examples include:
Schedule 4 (S4) drugs and poisons, otherwise known as prescription only medicines, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that:
No drugs under schedule 4 need to be authorised by the health department Some states have subsets of Schedule 4 with additional requirements (see below). Schedule 4 medicines cannot be advertised directly to the public. The above PBS data is not accurate. The Australian Pharmacuetical Benefits Scheme (PBS), is a list of drugs subsidised by the Australian Federal Government. S4 scripts are almost ALWAYS PBS, with phone authority needed for increased amounts, or multiple repeats. The individual state the drug is in governs that drug i.e. S4, S8 etc, the PBS is about the cost of the medicine and is federal. Again, the individual states legislate independently re drug dangers and harm/abuse issues.
Examples include:
Schedule 5 (S5) drugs and poisons are substances and preparations that:
Schedule 6 (S6) drugs and poisons are substances and preparations:
Schedule 7 (S7) drugs and poisons are substances and preparations that:
Schedule 8 (S8) drugs and poisons, otherwise known as Controlled Drugs, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use which have high potential for abuse and addiction.
All drugs that are schedule 8 must be approved by the health department at the time of writing a prescription for that drug; the prescriptions must be written by hand and not printed.
Examples include:
Schedule 9 (S9) drugs and poisons are substances and preparations that, by law, may only be used for research purposes. The sale, distribution, use, and manufacture of such substances without a permit is strictly prohibited by law. Permits for research uses on humans must be approved by a recognized ethics committee on human research.
Examples include:
Unscheduled substances do not belong to any of the above schedules. Many of these preparations are also sold in supermarkets in addition to pharmacies.
Examples include:
In New South Wales, poisons are proclaimed in the Poisons List by the Poisons Advisory Committee, under the authority of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW). NSW legislation refers to S2 as "medicinal poisons", S3 as "potent substances", S4 as "restricted substances" and S8 as "drugs of addiction".
Schedule 3 Recordable (S3R), or "recordable potent substances", refers to Pharmacist Only Medicines where supply is recorded as for Schedule 4 drugs. S3R drugs are those that may have an increased risk of illegal diversion or abuse. These are specified in Clause 23 of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2002 (NSW). As of January 2006, all pseudoephedrine-containing preparations are S3R.
Schedule 4, Appendix D (S4D) refers to Prescription Only Medicines that do not have sufficient addictiveness or risk of abuse to be classified as S8, but for which a significant addiction/abuse risk exists. As such, S4D drugs are subject to additional prescription and recording requirements over S4. These drugs are referred to as "prescribed restricted substances" under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2002 (NSW) and are listed in Appendix D of the Regulation. Drugs included in Appendix D include benzodiazepines and anabolic steroids. A subset of Appendix D are the Appendix B substances, which are subject to similar requirements as S8 drugs.
In South Australia, supply of certain S3 preparations listed in Schedule G of the Controlled Substances (Poisons) Regulations 1996 (SA) are recordable under Regulation 14(2). As of 2006, Schedule G products specified are: adrenaline (in metered aerosols), dihydrocodeine (in cough preparations), doxylamine (in preparations also containing codeine), promethazine (in preparations also containing codeine), and pseudoephedrine.
In Western Australia, supply of certain S3 preparations listed in Appendix J of the Poisons Regulations 1965 (WA) are recordable under Regulation 35A. As of 2006, Appendix J products specified are: hydrocortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, pseudoephedrine, and nicotine preparations were included in Schedule 3.