On 5 November 2026 new medicines legislation will come into effect in NSW. These changes will affect how dentists can prescribe, store, and obtain medicines. There are now increased penalties for non-compliance.

Some key changes include:

• S8 medicine restrictions – dentists can only prescribe or administer S8s if they are listed in the Dental Schedule of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (with some exceptions)
• New limitations on the total amount of time a dentist can prescribe and supply scheduled medicines
• New mandatory standards for medicines storage (S8 and S4D) and electronic drug register standards (S8), including new stocktake and reporting obligations (such as for losses of S8 medicines).
• Changes to which urgent use medicines dentists can obtain from pharmacies

Please download the Fact Sheet for the complete summary of the changes relevant to dental practitioners – https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pharmaceutical/Pages/medicine-laws-dentists.aspx