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Navigating Public Health Chemicals Policy in Australia: a Policy Maker's and Practitioner's Guide

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Navigating Public Health Chemicals Policy in Australia: a Policy Maker's and Practitioner's Guide Vol. 23(11–12) November–December 2012 ISSN 1034 7674 NSW PUBLIC HEALTH BULLETIN Navigating public health chemicals policy in Australia: a policy maker's and practitioner's guide Adam CaponA,B,C, Wayne SmithB chemical regulators and policy bodies allows for proper and James A. GillespieA engagement with the system. A Menzies Centre for Health Policy, The University of Sydney In an attempt to prevent adverse health effects occurring B Environmental Health Branch, Health Protection NSW governments produce policies designed to minimise the CCorresponding author. Email: [email protected]. exposure of the population to chemicals. Environmental health practitioners are often called upon to design or review these policies for the protection of the public’s health, but without having a fundamental understanding of the regula- Abstract: Chemicals are ubiquitous in everyday tors who can enact this protection it is difficult to ensure the policy developed will be effective and functional. life. Environmental health practitioners rely on a complex web of regulators and policy bodies to The following describes the complex web of regulators and ensure the protection of public health, yet few policy makers in Australia that underpins the development understand the full extent of this web. A lack of of comprehensive, well-informed chemicals policy and understanding can hamper public health response appropriate practitioner response. and impede policy development. In this paper we map the public health chemicals policy landscape in Making the chemical policy web Australia and conclude that an understanding of this The current fragmented system of chemical regulation in system is essential for effective environmental Australia grew out of Australian federalism. In 1901 the health responses and policy development. Australian Constitution assigned a limited list of powers to the Commonwealth Government. The regulation of chemicals was not among them, leading to each state developing a unique approach to chemical issues and fragmenting chemical issues across different portfolios.3 There are over 39 000 chemicals on the world market today,1 The rise of the environmental movement in the 1960s and with the potential for this number to increase significantly 1970s saw the establishment of the first state-based envi- through new manufacturing techniques such as nano- ronmental protection agencies and national ministerial technologies. These chemicals are widespread, occurring councils. Strong nationalisation of chemical policy issues in everything from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to in the form of targeted ministerial councils and national the cars we drive. The regulation of an item that permeates regulators only emerged in the 1990s out of the Hawke through every facet of our lives is by its nature complex. Government’s ‘New Federalism’ and attempts to develop This complexity is difficult to navigate, particularly when national regulatory strategies through the Council of public health practitioners are faced with an adverse health Australian Governments (COAG). This period saw the effect from a chemical product.2 Knowledge of the range of establishment of national regulators in agricultural and CONTENTS – See back page www.publish.csiro.au/journals/phb 10.1071/NB12110 PUBLIC HEALTH CHE MICAL POLICY ODS GO INDUSTRIAL TIC EU CHEMICALS AP ER TH W A TE NSW R H NSW ALT GOVERNMENTLOCAL HE EPA DoHA NICNAS/ NSW TGA DoHA HEALTH S T C A H N E D M A VETERINARY NHMRC R IC AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS AND NHEMS D A SPF S L A E SUSMP N X Standing Council D P O enHealth G S U U DPI I R NSW EPA/ D ACMS N E E S L E I Federal Regulator ACCS P W N A E APVMA AHPPC S NCCTG NEPC PS State Regulator NEPM WG (NSW example) AHMAC NChEM WG M NASPT A L N SCoH A A N Local Government G PISC D E U M NSW PLANNING/ SCEW GOVERNMENT S E E SCoPI N NSW EPA P LOCAL T L O Issue A F N C SCOC N H I ISC FRSC N E FOOD LGFFR G M FSANZ LOCAL NSW FA A PRODUCTS I C N A D GOVERNMENT L SCOTI S SCPEM /SCoH CAF CAANZ ACBPS/AQIS PSCC NTC I M P O R NSW EPA/NSW O T A R T WorkCover F O C IO H N N E O M O I T S I F A C FP A L A G , A T A L O CC R IC O , O D AC P M BPS S E AN N H D A A C MP QIS ACCC R ES T N /Po SW lice H /NS ea W lth/ FB/ FAIR SES NSW /RFS ING LO TRAD GO CA VE L RN ME A NT CU TE EX C PO HE SUR MIC E T AL O TIVE S EFEC D TS DUC PRO Figure 1. The web of government bodies responsible for public health chemicals regulation and policy in Australia. See Table 2 for a list of acronyms used in this figure. veterinary medicines, therapeutic goods, food, industrial segments (Figure 1). Some correspond to industrial sec- chemicals, as well as various other agencies and ministerial tors: therapeutic goods, agricultural and veterinary pro- councils. However, since much of the legislative power to ducts, food products and a general category of industrial implement and monitor controls rests with the states and chemicals. Others developed out of responses to distinct territories, these agencies were limited in their ability to regulatory problems: defective products, exposure stan- impose national uniformity of policy. dards, acute exposure, transportation of chemicals, land use planning, water, importation and public health policy. A third wave of reform began in 2005 with the then Prime Minister’s direction to reduce unnecessary regulatory bur- Tables 1a and 1b stratify 10 of these areas with their 4 den on business. COAG set about establishing a high-level agencies and functions at federal and state level. Table 2 taskforce to develop an integrated, national chemicals provides a list of acronyms used in this paper. policy. The main aim of these reforms was to develop uniform regulation between states on chemical issues. Chemicals policy in Australia has the Standing Committee These reforms are ongoing and while they are designed on Chemicals (SCOC) at its centre (Figure 1). The SCOC to develop uniformity within areas of chemical regulation consists of representatives from the various standing (such as therapeutics), there is limited development of councils and federal government agencies. It heads a uniformity between areas of chemical regulation. regulatory hierarchy in each segment led by a standing council of federal and state ministers, which works towards Current structure of chemicals policy more uniform national policy responses.5 These standing The current structure of public health chemicals policy in councils are generally supported by committees of senior Australia remains highly fragmented with 12 distinct state and federal bureaucrats and any federal government 218 | Vol. 23(11–12) 2012 NSW Public Health Bulletin Navigating public health chemicals policy in Australia NHMRC Minister for Health and Ageing Standing Council on Health (SCoH) Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing (or delegate) Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) Department of Australian Health Protection Advisory Advisory Health and Ageing Principal Committee (AHPPC) Committee on Committee on Chemicals Medicines Scheduling Scheduling National Health Environmental (ACCS) (ACMS) Therapeutic Goods Emergency Health Committee Administration (TGA) Management (enHealth) Subcommittee (NHEMS) Assessment and approval of drugs (Australian Register of National Coordinating Therapeutic Goods) Committee on Therapeutic Goods (NCCTG) Scheduling Policy Framework Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP) State and territory control Figure 2. Government bodies responsible for therapeutic goods and public health chemicals in Australia. NHMRC: National Health and Medical Research Council. agencies with regulatory responsibility for the area of (enHealth) and the National Health Emergency Manage- chemicals policy in question. ment Subcommittee (NHEMS). Segmented areas of chemicals regulation The National Coordinating Committee on Therapeutic and policy Goods (NCCTG), a sub-committee of AHMAC, has Therapeutic products, emergency management overall responsibility for the Scheduling Policy Frame- and public health chemical policy: the Standing work (SPF), a framework that sets out the national system Council on Health and the Therapeutic Goods for applying access restrictions on all poisons (including Administration therapeutics) that pose a potential risk to public health The ministerial Standing Council on Health (SCoH) pro- and safety.6 Chemicals are ‘scheduled’ according to the vides overall leadership in the regulation of therapeutic degree of risk and the level of control required to protect goods and public health issues arising from chemicals consumers. A chemical may be referred to one of two (Figure 2), drawing advice from the Australian Health committees to determine at what level it is to be Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC). For public health scheduled – the Advisory Committee on Medicines policy the AHMAC take advice from six key subcommit- Scheduling (ACMS) and the Advisory Committee on tees, of which the Australian Health Protection Principal Chemicals Scheduling (ACCS). These committees Committee (AHPPC) is the most important in terms of provide advice to the Commonwealth Parliamentary chemicals policy. The AHPPC includes federal and state Secretary for Health and Ageing (PS) (or their delegate), Chief Medical/Health Officers, with representatives from who has the final decision regarding the scheduling of the other technical agencies, and provides advice and makes chemical in question;7 this decision will be made after recommendations regarding environmental health policy extensive public consultation. A record of this decision is and environmental threats and emergencies. It draws this included in the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of advice from the Environmental Health Committee Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP). Each state then Vol. 23(11–12) 2012 NSW Public Health Bulletin | 219 develops its own regulations around purchasing, packag- The APVMA also assesses agricultural and veterinary ing, labelling and enforcement of the SUSMP.
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