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On 30 July the Victorian Government introduced the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment Bill 2025 into Parliament, ushering in changes that will see only qualified health practitioners – like registered and enrolled nurses – able to administer specific medicines and drugs in residential aged care.
ANMF (Vic Branch) has been campaigning for this change for years and welcomes the new legislation which means that from 1 July 2026 drugs such as local anaesthetics, antibiotics and medicines with strict legislative controls must be administered by registered health practitioners to any patient or resident who has a cognitive impairment or who is unable to self-administer their medications.
Personal care workers can continue to assist competent residents with self-administration.
Changes to the Act more than 20 years ago meant that personal care workers in aged care were unfairly given the responsibility of medication administration and subsequently too many residents were given their medications unsafely, without the clinical oversight of registered and enrolled nurses who are educated and regulated to undertake this role safely and competently.
These changes will reduce clinical risk, improve outcomes for residents and reduce the incidence of avoidable hospitalisation of residents as a result of medication errors, which will reduce demand on acute hospital settings.
ANMF has long held the view that this change also strengthens continuity of care, supports early intervention and ensures the delivery of wholistic, safe, person-centred care as nurses use the medication round not only to deliver prescribed treatments but also to assess a resident’s condition, engage in clinical decision-making and detect early signs of deterioration.
Secretary of the ANMF (Vic Branch) Maddy Harradence said, ‘This legislation supports nurses to do the job they are qualified to do – medication administration is a core nursing responsibility and an essential part of delivering safe, high-quality, person-centred care. These changes also mean nurses are working to their full scope and therefore more likely to experience positive job satisfaction.’
