Poison Permits

A poison is defined as any substance that is included in the Schedules of the Poisons Act (this information is also included on the MSDS).

A permit may be required to purchase, distribute or use poisons in Schedules 2, 3, 4, 7 or 8, whilst Schedule 9 substances are prohibited.

An application form can be downloaded from the Department of Health website, or by clicking here.

The various poison schedules are detailed below:

SUSDP schedule	Type of substance	Comments
1	Schedule blank at this stage
2	Pharmacy medicine	Substances for therapeutic use, including certain pain relief medications, cough mixtures and travel sickness preparations, which may require advice from a pharmacist for safe use.
3	Pharmacist only medicine	Substances for therapeutic use, which requires professional advice for safe use. These products can only be sold to the public by a doctor or a pharmacist.
4	Prescription only medicine	Substances that should be used or supplied only under prescription from a medical, dental or veterinary practitioner.
5	Caution	Substances with a moderate potential for causing harm, the extent of which can be reduced through the use of distinctive packaging with strong warnings and safety directions on the label. Whilst no licence or record of sales is required these substances must be kept out of reach of children.
6	Poison	Substances with a moderate potential for causing harm, the extent of which can be reduced through the use of distinctive packaging with strong warnings and safety directions on the label. Whilst no licence or record of sales is required these substances must be kept out of reach of children.
7	Dangerous Poison	Substances with a high potential for causing harm at low exposure and which require special precautions during manufacture, handling or use. These poisons should be available only to specialised or authorised users who have the skills necessary to handle them safely. Special regulations restricting their availability, possession, storage or use may apply.
8	Controlled drug	Substances which should be available for use but require restriction of manufacture, supply, distribution, possession and use to reduce abuse, misuse and physical or psychological dependence.
9	Prohibited substance	Substances such as herion which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of Commonwealth and/or State or Territory authorities.