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Medicines and poisons – Secretary approvals

Key messages

  • Some regulations allow for the department Secretary to approve individuals or circumstances that are not included in the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017.
  • The Secretary approvals are in place to ensure that health practitioners and others can possess and use certain medicines and poisons.

Registered health practitioners are regulated by the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (the Act) and the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017 (the Regulations).

Some regulations allow for the Secretary of the department to approve details that are not included in the Regulations.

Note: Details of matters that are ‘approved by the Secretary' may change from time to time, so be sure to refer to the current version.

The current Secretary Approvals were published in the following Victoria Government Gazettes:

  1. G37 14 September 2017 orthoptists, page 2020.
  2. G16 19 April 2018 pp.720-728
    1. Australian Ski Patrol Association Inc. qualified ski patroller, page 720
    2. dental hygienists, dental therapists or oral health therapists, pp. 720-721
    3. any optometrist, page 721
    4. any podiatrist, page 722
    5. a midwife, page 722
    6. cardiac arrest, pp. 723 - 724
    7. Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine – Forensic Nurse Examiner, page 726
    8. Victorian Tuberculosis Control Program, page 727
    9. criteria for computer-generated prescriptions, pp. 727-728.
  3. G40 4 October 2018 dental assistants, page 2123.
  4. G49 6 December 2018 Life Saving Victoria lifeguards, page 2720.
  5. G51 20 December 2018 on-site emergency response workers at mine sites and power stations, page 2819.
  6. G14 9 April 2020 criteria for e-prescriptions, pp. 707-708.
  7. S 744 23 December 2021 first aid services licence holders and persons they employ or engage pp 3-8.
  8. G36 7 September 2023 non-emergency patient transport licence holders and persons they employ or engage pp 1552-1553.
  9. S 44 1 February 2022 rural and isolated practice registered nurses, pp. 1-5.
  10. G29 21 July 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, pp. 3130-3131.
  11. S 535 3 October 2024
    1. nurse immunisers pp. 1-4
    2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner immunisers pp. 5-8
    3. pharmacist immunisers pp. 9-14.
      S 539 4 October 2024 – correcting typographical error on page 14 of the above notice.
    4. intern pharmacist immunisers pp. 15-20
  12. G 14 6 April 2023 Approved Naloxone Providers and Approved Workers, pp. 532-533.
  13. G 26 26 June 2025 Community pharmacist program, pp. 1366-1171.
  14. G 50 11 December 2025 Adrenaline nasal spray pp. 2749-2755

Updated

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