Restriction: Screen for drugs

Please contact your case officer for more information. 

For general information see our Frequently asked questions about Monitoring and compliance page

If you have not yet received contact details for your case officer, please email your enquiry.

We are here to support and guide you through your compliance. 

The contact details for your case officer are included on all our correspondence with you.

We also encourage you to use independent support services, including those provided on our Practitioner support services page.

You can also contact your legal representative or professional union to support you.

• If you have no practice locations published to the public register, you must not practise. 
• You must only practise at practice locations that are published to the public register.

The requirement to nominate a practice location, for the purpose of these restrictions, is intended to ensure that we are able to identify whether you are practising and to be able to obtain information about your practice context.

These restrictions generally do not require approval of your nominated place of practice, but they do require a declaration of practice locations (which is also sometimes referred to as a nomination) that will need to be published to the public register. 

You are required to declare all practice location, so we know whether you are practising and at which locations. This will help us assess and respond to any concerns about your health so we can work with you to keep the public safe.  You are required to declare a practice location, so we know whether you are practising and at which location. This will help us assess any concerns about your compliance and/or applications to review your drug screening frequency. This is important to know if there are any issues of suspected or non-compliance and/or to consider applications to reduce your drug screen frequency. For example, if there is an issue of non-compliance such as a missed drug screen then understanding your practice context will assist in decision making about whether regulatory action is required in response to the non-compliance. 

Senior persons play an important role in protecting the public. Sometimes they are not a registered health practitioner. They are responsible for providing us with accurate practice information and are our primary contact to confirm you are practising safely. 

It is important your senior person is sufficiently independent from you to be reasonably relied upon and is able to provide independent and reliable information to help us monitor your compliance with your restrictions.

You should notify your case officer as soon as possible using the contact details on your monitoring plan. You will be required to nominate a new senior person within 14 days of notifying us that your previously nominated senior person is no longer available.

We use a randomised system for drug screening dates. We will allocate you a screening group which tests at a frequency outlined in our drug screening protocol.

You will be required to call a telephone number to find out if you are required to undergo drug screening on that day.

Knowing all the medications you have been prescribed assists us in reviewing drug screening results to assess your compliance. This information helps us review your drug screening results and assess your compliance with your restrictions.

If we receive a positive drug screening result and know what you have been prescribed, we may not need to contact you to assess your compliance with your restrictions. 

You may make a written request to step down the levels of screening frequency as detailed in Appendix C of the Ahpra Protocol- Screen for drugs. If you make a written request, you must provide supporting information from your treating practitioner(s). Supporting information from your supervisor(s) and workplace may also assist in consideration of these requests.

• You must immediately contact us using the details provided in your monitoring plan. 
• You may be required to complete an additional drug screen. Your history of compliance with the restrictions and your engagement in reporting the missed screen will be taken into consideration when considering whether further regulatory action is required. 
• Generally isolated incidents of non-compliance do not result in regulatory action unless the non-compliance resulted in or may have resulted in significant risk to the public. If you are concerned, you can speak to your Ahpra case officer. 

The duration of your drug screening requirements is based on an assessment of your overall compliance, your progress in supportive or rehabilitative treatment programs, your practice environment, and the nature of your practise. 

You must notify your case officer of any incident where, due to a medical emergency, you are unable to complete a drug screen We will assess whether the circumstances were such that compliance with the requirement would have directly affected your ability to provide care that would have a direct benefit to a patient in a medical emergency.

A medical emergency is an event where it is not possible or reasonable to have a patient with a serious or life-threatening condition seen by another practitioner or transferred to the nearest hospital.

We will treat any failure to notify of non-compliance in the circumstances of a medical emergency as a breach of the condition and may take further action in relation to a breach of conditions. 

• You may apply for an exemption to undertake UDS whilst you undergo treatment and are not practising. In this situation we may remove the approved practice locations from the public register. 
• We will consider exemptions on a case-by-case basis and usually only for extended absences from practise.  
• When you are ready to return to practice you will need to provide a nomination for your practice locations. 
• When you provide a nomination of a practice location, you may be required to undertake drug screening prior to a practice location being published on the public register. 
• You should consider providing as much notice to us as possible of your intention to return to practice. 

You should consider whether your health condition could impact on your practise of your profession. 

Your treating practitioner may be able to help you decide whether it is appropriate to withdraw from practise for a period to recover from the relapse. Further regulatory action is less likely to be required for practitioners who seek appropriate treatment for their health condition and appropriately remove themselves from practise when necessary. Your health condition will be considered based on your individual circumstances including the nature and severity of the relapse, your practice setting and the history of your health condition.

You should notify your case officer as soon as possible using the contact details on your monitoring plan. You will be required to nominate a new treating practitioner within 30 days of notice that your current treating practitioner is unavailable.

You must contact your Ahpra case officer or team as soon as possible if you have had a change of circumstances or are unable to comply with the requirements for any reason. See your monitoring plan for contact information.

You may be able to apply for a change in your restrictions, or an extension of the date of commencement of the requirement for treatment. Circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis.