General practitioner checklist: Schedule 8 permits

Startwith question 1 and continue until you can answer ‘yes’.

See the following page for details of general exceptions and specialist exceptions plus an indication of where to locate additional information.

‘Inherited’ patients (including transient and occasional patients)
A medical practitioner who is not initiating treatment and considers it necessary to prescribe a Schedule 8 poison (other than where a permit must be obtained before prescribing) must immediately apply for a permit if there is reason to believe that his/her prescription will contribute to a patient being treated for a continuous period greater than 8 weeks - including the preceding period of treatment (by any prescriber/s).
To avoid delaying treatment for a genuine patient, a medical practitioner is authorised to continue treating the patient until the outcome of his/her permit application has been determined but he/she must submit a permit application immediately – even if there is no intention to prescribe on subsequent occasions.
Note:
  • This provision is intended to prevent drug-seeking patients (with or without genuine documentation) from obtaining multiple prescriptions from a clinic on the pretext that their regular treating practitioner is interstate, overseas or otherwise unavailable.
  • An explanation or documentation, which indicates that a prescription is required to provide ongoing treatment for a chronic condition, should be sufficient to alert a general practitioner to the need to apply for a permit – especially when patients are seeking prescriptions for higher doses of Schedule 8 poisons.
  • The National Prescribing Service recommendation, that daily doses should not exceed 100mg in morphine equivalence (e.g. 66 mg of oxycodone) without specialist advice, could serve as a guide to what might be considered a higher dose.

Specialist exceptions
The requirement to obtain a permit before prescribing methadone does not apply when treating a patient under the care of a palliative care service; or a patient at an oncology clinic or a pain clinic at a hospital.
The requirement to obtain a permit before prescribing amphetamines or methylphenidate does not apply where a paediatrician or psychiatrist is prescribing for a person with attention deficit disorder.
Note: A permit (or notification) is still required to treat a drug-dependent person or to provide treatment with any of these drugs for more than 8 weeks – unless another exception applies.
General exceptions – prisons, residential aged care services, hospital inpatients
In circumstances where a person is confined and not personally managing his/her medications, the risk of concurrent prescribing is significantly reduced. Accordingly, a permit is not required to prescribe Schedule 8 poisons for prisoners being treated in a prison, residents being treated in a residentialaged care service and patients receiving inpatient treatment in a hospital (not including day procedure centres). A notification of treatment of a drug-dependent person would still be required, where applicable.
Note: Thechecklist does not cover every situation to which Schedule 8 treatment permits might relate. See the DPR website (at for more information and documents dealing with other legislative requirements for with prescribing drugs of dependence and treating drug-dependent persons.
Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne.
To receive this publication in an accessible format phone Drugs and Poisons Regulation on 1300 364 545 or forward an Email to
February 2014