Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 194

National Health Act 1953

National Health Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

Section 140 of the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) provides, in part, that the

Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act and, in particular, for prescribing the fees and allowances payable to members of a committee established under the Act, other than members who are officers of the Public Service of the Commonwealth Government or of a state Government.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) is established under section 100A of the Act. Its primary role is to make recommendations and give advice to the Minister for Health and Ageing in relation to drugs and medicinal preparations seeking to be subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and about drugs already listed on the PBS.

Section 101A of the Act provides that PBAC may establish sub-committees to assist it in performing its functions. The Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee (DUSC) and Economics Sub-Committee (ESC) are sub-committees of the PBAC which are established in accordance with section 101A of the Act. DUSC and ESC undertake evaluation and analysis work to support PBAC’s deliberations. Subsection 101A(4) provides that sub-committees established under that section (i.e. DUSC and ESC) are ‘committees’ for the purposes of section 140.

The purpose of the Regulations is to amend regulation 39 of the National Health Regulations 1954 (the Principal Regulations) to exclude ESC and DUSC from the definition of ‘committee’ and thereby from the operation of regulations 40 and 41 of the Principal Regulations. Regulations 40 and 41 set out the fees and allowances payable to the members of committees established under the Act, including ESC and DUSC. The fees and allowances payable to members of ESC and DUSC are set out in the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1).

Consultation was undertaken with the Remuneration Tribunal in relation to the remuneration of ESC and DUSC. The Remuneration Tribunal felt that DUSC and ESC should be paid in accordance with regulations made under section 140 of the Act. Consultation with DUSC and ESC was not considered necessary given that there is no substantive change to the members’ entitlements.

The Act specifies no conditions that need to be met before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

The Regulations commence on 31 July 2009.