The Victorian government has decided to build its own real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) system as part of its $29.5 million project, rejecting the national electronic reporting and recording of controlled drugs (ERRCD) system that the federal government plans to implement.

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy introduced legislation to state parliament today to smooth the way for the system to be rolled out from next year. Victoria has chosen to apply real-time monitoring to Schedule 4 drugs, including all benzodiazepines, as well as Schedule 8 controlled drugs such as opioids.