On 9 September 2025 the Victorian Parliament passed the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Medication Administration in Residential Aged Care) Act (the Act). The Act places a new requirement on registered aged care providers in Victoria to ensure only nurses (and other registered health practitioners) administer Drugs of Dependence and Schedules 4, 8 and 9 medications to residents who do not administer their own medication.
The new requirement will commence on 1 July 2026. The change aims to reduce the risk of medicine-related problems in residential aged care.
Consultation with the sector undertaken in 2022 and 2024 fed into the development of the Bill.
In the coming months, the department will continue to work with key stakeholders, including unions, peak bodies, and providers, to develop Regulations that will include exceptional circumstances where the requirement will not apply (exemptions) and how these circumstances will be managed.
The new requirement
The Act amends the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 to place an obligation on all Victorian registered residential aged care providers to:
“Ensure, unless there is reasonable excuse, that only a registered nurse or an enrolled nurse (or other registered health practitioner) administers prescribed Drugs of Dependence and Schedules 4, 8 and 9 medications.”
This new obligation builds on existing Victorian legislative requirements that a registered nurse manages the medication administration process and is consistent with national Guiding Principles for Medication Management in Residential Aged Care .
The obligation will only apply when a resident is on the premises of the residential aged care home. It will also only apply to residents who do not administer their own medication.
What the new requirement will not do
The new requirement will not:
- Prescribe models of care or how Commonwealth Government mandated direct care minutes are to be used; how homes implement the reform is a decision for providers
- Change health practitioners’ existing authorisation under the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, or the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017, to administer medication within their scope of practice (for example general practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, and paramedic practitioners)
- Apply to unscheduled and Schedules 2 and 3 medications
- Change any requirements of the voluntary assisted dying legislation
- Impact existing reforms underway to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners to administer Schedule 4 and 8 medications across Victoria’s health and care settings.
Next steps
The department will continue to work with providers and other stakeholders to implement the reform. This will include developing Regulations to prescribe circumstances when the obligation does not apply. This will enable exemptions and safeguards for circumstances for someone other than a nurse to administer medication if there is a risk of harm from delayed medication.
More information will be communicated directly with providers and made available on this webpage.
What are Schedules 4, 8 and 9 medications and drugs of dependence?
Schedule 4 medications are prescription-only, for example antibiotics, local anaesthetics, and strong analgesics (such as Panadeine Forte®)
Schedule 8 medications are those that have a higher risk for abuse, misuse and physical or psychological dependence (for example oxycodone (OxyContin® or Endone®), morphine MS-Contin®) and some benzodiazepines (flunitrazepam and alprazolam).
Schedule 9 medications are prohibited substances and may include medication used in clinical trials.
Drugs of Dependence are listed in the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 and have a higher potential for dependence – they include all medicines in Schedules 8 and 9 and some from Schedules 4 (such as benzodiazepines). Drugs of Dependence should be treated with a higher degree of caution.
Reviewed 16 September 2025