ANMF (Vic Branch) welcomes the Victorian Government's new legislation 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 and was consulted on the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment Bill 2025, introduced into Victorian Parliament on 30 July 2025. The Bill will mean medication administration will no longer be performed by unregulated staff who are not bound by the standards set by a relevant registration authority such as the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Changes to the Act over 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 clinical oversight. Registered and enrolled nurses are educated and regulated to undertake this role safely and competently.
The amendment means that from 1 July 2026 drugs such as local anaesthetics, antibiotics and medicines with strict legislative controls must be administered by 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.
These changes will reduce clinical risk, improving outcomes for residents. It will subsequently reduce the incidence of hospitalisation of residents (as a result of medication errors) and the demand that this places on the acute hospital settings. Nurses use the medication round not only to deliver prescribed treatments but to assess the resident's condition, engage in clinical decision-making, and detect early signs of deterioration. This strengthens continuity of care, supports early intervention, and ensures the delivery of wholistic, safe, person-centred care.
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.'
About us:
The ANMF (Vic Branch) has over 110,000 members – nurses, midwives and aged care personal care workers – across the Victorian health and aged care sectors.
