{"id":"medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022","name":"Medicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022","slug":"medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":88961,"registerId":"wa-medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Medicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nMedicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022\n\nWestern Australia\n\nMedicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 2\n\n2. Commencement 2\n\n3. Act binds Crown 2\n\n4. Validation 2\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 5\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\n![]()Western Australia\n\nMedicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022\n\nAn Act to make provision in relation to the definition of *Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)* in the *Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016* regulation 3(1).\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis is the *Medicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n##### 3. Act binds Crown\n\nThis Act binds the Crown in right of Western Australia and, so far as the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.\n\n##### 4. Validation\n\n(1) In this section —\n\nnon‑legislative instrument means any of the following that is made, issued or given under a written law but that is not itself a written law —\n\n(a) a consent, licence, permit, approval or other form of authorisation;\n\n(b) a decision, determination, direction, exemption or instruction;\n\n(c) a code, notice, order, protocol, rule or standard;\n\n(d) an instrument not covered by paragraphs (a) to (c);\n\nrelevant definition means the definition of ***Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)*** in the *Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016* regulation 3(1);\n\nvalidation period means the period beginning on 1 February 2019 and ending on 19 November 2019.\n\n(2) The relevant definition is taken to have been as follows at all times during the validation period —\n\n***Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)*** means the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons set out in the current Poisons Standard;\n\n(3) Subsections (4), (5), (7), (8) and (9) —\n\n(a) supplement subsection (2); but\n\n(b) are not to be construed as limiting the effect of subsection (2) or the effect of each other.\n\n(4) A written law or non‑legislative instrument in force at any time on or after 1 February 2019 is taken to have, or to have had, the same effect at that time as if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period.\n\n(5) Anything done, or purportedly done, on or after 1 February 2019 is taken to be, and to have always been, as lawful, valid and effective as it would be, or would have been, if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period.\n\n(6) In subsection (5), a reference to the doing of anything includes a reference to an omission to do anything.\n\n(7) The functions, rights, obligations and liabilities of the State, and of all persons and bodies, are taken to be, and to have always been, the same as if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period.\n\n(8) An act or omission done or made on or after 1 February 2019 is taken to be, and to have always been —\n\n(a) an offence, or other contravention of a written law or non‑legislative instrument, if it would be, or would have been, an offence or other contravention if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period; and\n\n(b) subject to the same punishment or other penalty or consequences, whether criminal or civil, as it would be, or would have been, if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period.\n\n(9) An offence committed before the validation period with which a person was charged during the validation period is taken to be, and to have always been, as punishable as it would have been if the relevant definition had been as set out in subsection (2) at all times during the validation period.\n\n(10) This section has effect despite *The Criminal Code* section 11.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Medicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022*. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Medicines and Poisons (Validation) Act 2022* | 46 of 2022 | 1 Dec 2022 | 1 Dec 2022 (see s. 2) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nnon-legislative instrument 4(1)\n\nrelevant definition 4(1)\n\nvalidation period 4(1)\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: validating a specific definitional provision for a specific 9-month period in 2019. There is no scope creep beyond this technical validation function."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute (only 4 substantive sections plus machinery provisions)","Single operative provision (section 4) with clear purpose","Only 3 defined terms, all in one subsection","Extensive use of deeming provisions ('taken to have been', 'taken to be') but logically structured in parallel subsections (4)-(9)","Some cross-referencing to external instruments (Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016, The Criminal Code) but minimal","Temporal limitation (specific 9-month validation period) contains the scope","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic — subsections operate cumulatively as noted in subsection (3)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian law fixes a technical legal problem that existed between February and November 2019. \n\n**What happened:**\nThe *Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016* contain a definition of the \"Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)\" — this is the national standard that classifies which medicines and poisons need special controls. For about 9 months in 2019, there was uncertainty or a potential legal flaw in how this definition worked.\n\n**What this Act does:**\n- **Validates past actions:** It declares that during that 9-month period (1 February 2019 to 19 November 2019), the definition should be treated as if it had always said the SUSMP means \"the current Poisons Standard.\"\n- **Protects decisions made:** Any licences, permits, approvals, or other decisions made by government during or after that period are legally valid, even if the definition was technically flawed at the time.\n- **Preserves offences and penalties:** If someone committed an offence related to medicines or poisons during this time, they can still be prosecuted as if the definition had been correct all along.\n- **Overrides normal criminal law rules:** It explicitly overrides a section of *The Criminal Code* that might otherwise prevent this kind of retrospective validation.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Government agencies that issued licences or approvals for medicines and poisons during 2019\n- Businesses and individuals who held permits or were regulated under these laws during that period\n- Anyone who was charged with an offence related to medicines/poisons during the validation period\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this law, there was a risk that important regulatory decisions made in 2019 could be challenged as invalid, potentially creating chaos for pharmacies, hospitals, and businesses handling controlled substances. This is a \"cleanup\" law to ensure legal certainty and prevent technical arguments from undermining public health protections."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope change cannot be assessed as the legislation text was not retrievable. The complexity score of 2 reflects the near-total absence of analysable content rather than the Act's true complexity."},"complexity_factors":["Legislation text is entirely unavailable — only the title and surrounding metadata could be retrieved","Cannot assess cross-references, definitions, schedules, or operative provisions","Validation Acts are typically narrow and technically straightforward in structure, but can have complex retrospective legal implications that cannot be assessed here","The medicines and poisons regulatory framework in WA is itself complex, but how this Act interacts with it is unknown"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian Act retrospectively validates past actions concerning the regulation, handling or supply of medicines and poisons to cure legal uncertainty about their validity. It chiefly affects healthcare professionals, businesses that handle regulated substances, patients and regulators by confirming that previously uncertain or technically defective actions are legally effective, avoiding disruption or liability."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes legal effect retrospectively by treating the SUSMP definition as having been different during 1 Feb–19 Nov 2019, thereby preserving the validity of regulations, non‑legislative instruments, licences, decisions, offences and penalties that depended on that wording (see s 4(2)–(9)). It also declares this effect despite The Criminal Code s 11 (s 4(10)), which means past prosecutions and penalties are validated rather than reopened to legal challenge on the basis of the original wording."},"complexity_factors":["Retrospective deeming of a regulatory definition covering a fixed period (s 4(2); defined validation period)","Applies to both written laws and a wide class of non‑legislative instruments (s 4(1), s 4(4))","Deems past acts and omissions lawful, valid and effective, including omissions (s 4(5)–(6))","Validates functions, rights, obligations and liabilities of the State and private persons (s 4(7))","Affirms that acts would be offences and subject to the same penalties if the deeming applied (s 4(8)–(9))","Explicit override of The Criminal Code s 11 to permit retrospective effect (s 4(10))","Short, targeted temporal scope reduces breadth but raises interpretive issues about specific past instruments and prosecutions"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act retrospectively treats the definition of “Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)” in the Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016 as if it had read “the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons set out in the current Poisons Standard” for 1 Feb–19 Nov 2019. It validates past regulations, licences, decisions, offences, penalties and other instruments that depended on that definition, so persons and the State keep the rights, obligations and liabilities they acquired or incurred in that period (see s 4)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022","history":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022/history","analysis":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/medicines-and-poisons-validation-act-2022/documents"}}