Maddy Harradence, Branch Secretary
Designated registered nurse prescribing is a significant – and exciting – change to nursing practice. Alongside the move from hospital-based training to university degrees and the introduction of nurse practitioners, it is probably one of the biggest changes in nursing in our lifetimes.
This is why ANMF is at the forefront of advocacy, both at the state and the national level, to ensure that your voices are heard throughout implementation, and beyond. As we did with the introduction of nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, and with recent legislative changes allowing NPs and EMs to practice to their full scope, when it comes to advancing our professions ANMF will always be there.
RN prescribing arrives in Australia following the successful adoption of similar initiatives internationally. Sweden and the UK both introduced nurse prescribing in 1994, Denmark and Finland in 2009 and 2010 respectively, and Canada and New Zealand more recently.
In Australia, registered nurses who want to prescribe will need, among other things, to complete an accredited qualification and to gain endorsement from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), which has been developing a designated RN prescribing model since 2016.
Health ministers approved the NMBA registration standard for RN prescribing in December 2024, and it came into effect in September 2025. Postgraduate courses have commenced.
But no RN anywhere in Australia can actually prescribe yet.
To do so, we need regulatory and legislative changes to enable the authorising environment. In Victoria, this means amendments to the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017 and the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act (1981). ANMF (Vic Branch) is advocating around these amendments and we expect this to happen in late 2026.
So in this liminal period there is still a lot about RN prescribing that is unknown – the classification and remuneration implications, for example. I was both unsurprised and humbled, therefore, to have so many members join us at the end of April for the Branch’s Introduction to Nurse Prescribing webinar.
Presenting alongside me were Victoria’s new Chief Nurse Emma Saddington and Western Health Deputy Executive Director of Nursing & Midwifery Jo Mapes, both of whom sit with me on the statewide expert advisory committee to represent nursing perspectives during implementation of RN prescribing.
As a key stakeholder throughout this process, ANMF will continue to advocate with health services and government – in particular around remuneration. I expect this to loom large in the log of claims for the next public sector agreement.
But we can’t do any of this work without you.
Your questions and feedback will inform and guide our advocacy, as they do with all ANMF work. We are reviewing all the questions (including the ones we couldn’t get to during the webinar) and will release an FAQ in the coming weeks, answering all those member questions. In addition, we have set up a members’ only RN prescribing working group, to test ideas and understand from members the potential impacts, opportunities and risks associated with this significant reform.
If you missed the webinar, you can view the recording now for free. If you still have questions or suggestions, or would like to submit an expression of interest to join the ANMF working group, contact us via DRNP@anmfvic.asn.au.
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