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FACT SHEET
Health and Related Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2017
The purpose of this Bill is to make a number of minor and technical amendments to the
Ambulance Service Act 1982, the Disability Services Act 2011, the Health Act 1997, the
Mental Health Act 2013, the Pharmacy Control Act 2001, the Poisons Act 1971, the
Tasmanian Health Organisations Act 2011 and the Youth Justice Act 1997.
The major changes to the Ambulance Act are to allow the Secretary, instead of only the
Commissioner, to appoint authorised officers, and for those officers to enforce the Act
with infringement notices as required in relation to the Secretary’s role as regulator of
non-emergency patient transport services.
The changes to the Disability Services Act are to apply the provisions of the Act around
monitoring and regulation of funded services to be extended to services funded under
the National Disability Insurance Scheme; to add a definition for “therapeutic purposes”
in respect of restrictive interventions approved under the Act by the Guardianship Board
or Secretary; and amend the period for which the Board can approve interventions.
The main amendment to the Health Act is to replace the Hospitals and Ambulance
Service Advisory Board with general advisory panel provisions.
Two technical issues have been identified with the Pharmacy Control Act. The first
relates to pharmacy depots, which was identified as a future amendment during earlier
amendments to the Act, and the second to family trusts.
Pharmacy depots are places, such as a general retail shop in geographic areas without a
pharmacy, where prescriptions (other than for narcotic substances) can be deposited and
sent to a pharmacist who dispenses and return the medications to be collected. The Bill
provides a head of power under the Act for regulations to be developed to regulate
pharmacy depots as appropriate in future, subject to the usual regulatory impact
assessment process. This would be to ensure that any growth in pharmacy depot
arrangements is done in an appropriately safe manner for consumers.
There is also an issue with the treatment of family trusts under the Pharmacy Control
Act. Recent changes to the Act addressed this issue in most circumstances but the Bill
includes amendments to ensure that both the legal interest and the beneficial interest in
each share in an applicant company is held by a pharmacist or a close relative of a
pharmacist.
The Bill includes a minor amendment in respect of poppy grower’s licence conditions
under the Poisons Act. The amendment will require the poppy grower to have a Notice
to Grow (in respect of paddock location, and size for each season) issued by the Poppy
Advisory and Control Board so that adequate compliance activity can be undertaken
under new 5-year licensing regime.
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The Bill contains an amendment to the Tasmanian Health Organisations Act to clarify the
Tasmanian Health Service (THS) may provide services external to Tasmania. As with
other significant issues for the jurisdiction of the THS in the current Act, this is subject to
the approval of the Responsible Ministers, being the Minister for Health and Treasurer.
The changes to the Youth Justice Act provide statutory appointment provisions for a
detention centre manager and simplify the delegation of the detention centre manager’s
powers and functions.
Other minor changes in the Bill correct terminology and cross references within the
various Acts.
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