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In-depth topic course

Prescribe Schedule 8 and High-Risk Medicines Safely, in Every Australian Jurisdiction

Permits, Real-Time Prescription Monitoring, Opioid Stewardship and Record-Keeping

  • 3 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 20-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

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About this course

Schedule 8 medicines and other drugs of dependence are where clinical judgement, eight different sets of state and territory rules, PBS restrictions and your National Board's expectations all meet. A prescription can be clinically reasonable yet unlawful because a permit was needed; lawful yet unsubsidised because a PBS authority was missed; or lawful and subsidised yet unsafe because the patient was also collecting benzodiazepines from another prescriber. Prescribing of drugs of dependence is one of the most common reasons concerns are raised with Ahpra, and many of those practitioners never intended to do anything wrong.

This course brings the pieces together. It explains how the Poisons Standard, state and territory drugs and poisons laws, the PBS and the National Law interact; when permits, authorities and approvals are triggered, including the drug-dependent person rule; how real-time prescription monitoring works and how to talk with patients about what it shows; how to apply opioid stewardship to acute and chronic pain; and how to handle benzodiazepines, psychostimulants, medicinal cannabis and telehealth requests safely.

You finish with a one-page decision checklist, scripts for declining, deferring or reducing medicines, a records checklist for drugs of dependence, a template for a practice prescribing policy and a reflective account for your CPD record.

Who this course is for

  • General practitioners, specialists and hospital doctors who prescribe opioids, benzodiazepines or psychostimulants
  • Nurse practitioners prescribing drugs of dependence in primary care, aged care, emergency or specialist settings
  • Dentists who prescribe short courses of opioids after dental procedures
  • Community and hospital pharmacists who check, dispense and counsel on monitored medicines
  • Practitioners working for telehealth services that offer medicinal cannabis, ADHD treatment or other drugs of dependence
  • Practice principals and clinical leads responsible for prescribing policies
  • Practitioners who want to strengthen their prescribing after a concern has been raised

What you’ll learn

  • Prescribe lawfully anywhere you work

    Recognise permit, approval and drug-dependent person triggers and know where to confirm current requirements in each state and territory.

  • Use monitoring data well

    Check RTPM routinely, interpret alerts in context and have open conversations with patients about what the record shows.

  • Practise opioid and sedative stewardship

    Set functional goals, review regularly, taper safely, avoid dangerous combinations and offer naloxone.

  • Show your reasoning

    Keep prescriptions, records, storage and registers that demonstrate safe, defensible prescribing if your practice is ever reviewed.

Learning objectives

  • Explain how the Poisons Standard, state and territory drugs and poisons laws, PBS rules and the National Law apply to Schedule 8 prescribing.
  • Identify high-risk medicines, including Schedule 4 drugs of dependence, and the combinations and patient factors that raise overdose risk.
  • Recognise when a permit, authority or approval is required, including for drug-dependent patients and psychostimulants.
  • Use real-time prescription monitoring appropriately and discuss its findings with patients.
  • Apply opioid stewardship principles to acute and chronic pain, including review and safe tapering.
  • Offer naloxone and overdose education under the national Take Home Naloxone program.
  • Prescribe safely by telehealth and decline requests from yourself, family, friends and colleagues.
  • Keep prescriptions, clinical records, storage and registers that meet legal and professional requirements.
  • Build practice systems that make safe prescribing of drugs of dependence the default.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • The interstate move

    A GP crosses a state border and continues a patient's long-term oxycodone without realising the local approval rules are different. You will learn how to check requirements in any jurisdiction before you prescribe.

  • Three prescribers, one patient

    Monitoring shows tapentadol, pregabalin and temazepam from three different prescribers. You will practise assessing the combined sedative load and coordinating a single plan.

  • The red alert

    An RTPM alert appears during a busy session. You will learn what the record can and cannot tell you and the words to use when raising it with the patient.

  • Four years on oxycodone

    A patient's dose has crept up while function has declined, and the PBS twelve-month review is overdue. You will work through a negotiated, supported taper.

  • The questionnaire clinic

    A telehealth employer expects medicinal cannabis prescriptions after a short online form. You will apply the Boards' guidance and Ahpra's 2026 interim guidance on commercial conflicts of interest.

  • A favour for a colleague

    A colleague asks for a few sleeping tablets before night shifts. You will practise declining safely and thinking about their wellbeing.

Course contents

8 sections, 32 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: The Legal and Professional Framework for Schedule 8 Prescribing4 lessons
    • 1.1 Scheduling, the Poisons Standard and Why Schedule 8 Is Different
    • 1.2 Who May Prescribe, and Within What Limits
    • 1.3 What Your National Board Expects of a Prescriber
    • 1.4 The Scale of Harm and Why Stewardship Matters
  2. Section 2: Recognising High-Risk Medicines and High-Risk Situations4 lessons
    • 2.1 What Makes a Medicine High Risk
    • 2.2 Schedule 4 Drugs of Dependence
    • 2.3 Recognising Dependence, Misuse and Diversion
    • 2.4 Patients at the Margins: Older People, Young People and Pregnancy
  3. Section 3: Permits, Authorities and Special Prescribing Regimes4 lessons
    • 3.1 What Permits, Authorities and Approvals Are For
    • 3.2 The Drug-Dependent Person Rule
    • 3.3 Opioid Dependence Treatment and Psychostimulants
    • 3.4 Medicinal Cannabis, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy and Cross-Border Care
  4. Section 4: Real-Time Prescription Monitoring in Practice4 lessons
    • 4.1 How Real-Time Prescription Monitoring Works
    • 4.2 When You Must Check, and What Happens If You Do Not
    • 4.3 Reading the Record and Talking With the Patient
    • 4.4 What Monitoring Cannot Tell You
  5. Section 5: Opioid Stewardship: Starting, Reviewing and Stopping4 lessons
    • 5.1 Opioids for Acute Pain
    • 5.2 Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: Trials, Goals and Review
    • 5.3 Tapering and Deprescribing Safely
    • 5.4 Naloxone and Overdose Prevention
  6. Section 6: Benzodiazepines, Psychostimulants and Prescribing Pressures4 lessons
    • 6.1 Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs
    • 6.2 Psychostimulants: Diagnosis, Approval and Diversion Risk
    • 6.3 Telehealth Prescribing of Drugs of Dependence
    • 6.4 Requests From Yourself, Family, Friends and Colleagues
  7. Section 7: Prescriptions, Records, Storage and Reporting4 lessons
    • 7.1 Writing a Lawful and Safe Schedule 8 Prescription
    • 7.2 Clinical Records for Drugs of Dependence
    • 7.3 Storage, Registers and Destruction
    • 7.4 Loss, Theft, Forgery and Reporting Obligations
  8. Section 8: Difficult Conversations and Professional Accountability4 lessons
    • 8.1 Saying No, Saying Not Yet and Saying Less
    • 8.2 Managing Pressure, Distress and Aggression
    • 8.3 Why Prescribing Leads to Notifications
    • 8.4 Building a Safe Prescribing System in Your Practice
  9. Final assessment and written reflection20 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    20 scenario-based questions. You need 16 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 3 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • A certificate of completion recording approximately 3 CPD hours of learning
  • A written reflective account on your own prescribing to keep with your CPD record
  • A one-page decision checklist for every drug of dependence prescription
  • A records checklist and a practice prescribing policy template you can adapt

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

Questions about this course

Does Ahpra or a National Board accredit this course?

No. This is independent education designed to align with the Boards' codes and guidance. It is not accredited by Ahpra and it is not approved by any National Board and it is not endorsed by any professional body. Under your Board's CPD registration standard you decide whether it fits your learning plan, and you record the time you actually spend.

Does the course cover the rules in my state or territory?

It explains the common patterns across all states and territories, gives examples from several jurisdictions (including Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia) and shows you where to confirm the current rules that apply to you. Because these rules change regularly, it teaches you how to check rather than asking you to memorise eight rule books.

Is checking real-time prescription monitoring mandatory?

It is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions, such as Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, and registration or checking requirements are being introduced or strengthened elsewhere. Professionally, National Boards expect you to use available monitoring information, and the course treats checking as part of every monitored medicine decision.

I am a pharmacist, not a prescriber. Is the course relevant?

Yes. Pharmacists play a central role in monitoring, verifying prescriptions, offering naloxone, managing Schedule 8 registers and raising concerns with prescribers. Several scenarios are written from the pharmacy counter.

Will this course satisfy a condition on my registration about prescribing?

Not automatically. A Board condition or undertaking may specify particular education. If you have one, confirm with Ahpra or your Board, and your lawyer or medical defence organisation, whether this course is acceptable before you rely on it.

How long does it take, and how do I record it?

It is designed for about 3 hours, including reading, activities, the reflective account and the 20-question assessment (pass mark 80%). Record the time you actually spend and keep your certificate and reflection together.

Does it cover medicinal cannabis and ADHD medicines?

Yes. It covers the Schedule 8 status of most THC products, the TGA access pathways, the Boards' medicinal cannabis guidance, and the approval and monitoring requirements for psychostimulants, including the risks of online and interstate prescribing.

Is the course suitable for dentists and nurse practitioners?

Yes. It explains how prescribing authority differs between professions and includes scenarios for short-term dental opioid prescribing and nurse practitioner prescribing in primary care.

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