Poisons Standard guide to Australian schedules and labels

The Poisons Standard is Australia's national framework for scheduling medicines and poisons and setting model controls, including labelling. It is also called the SUSMP: the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons. As of 28 October 2026, the current instrument is the October 2026 Poisons Standard (F2026L01327), commencing 1 October 2026 under section 2.

For chemical compliance work, start with the substance entry. Its qualifications determine how to read the schedule and relevant appendices. But a schedule heading alone cannot settle the requirements for a finished product. The instrument's Reader's guide explains that states and territories adopt controls through their own laws, but section 5(1) says that guide is not part of the instrument, so read the operative text for the rule.

What SUSMP means

SUSMP means Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons, the other name for this Standard, as NSW Health explains. Entries concern substances, rather than particular products. Inclusion does not establish availability, approval or effectiveness, and it does not remove TGA or APVMA registration obligations.

The national Standard does not replace a state or territory compliance check. For a Queensland or Tasmania enquiry, read the current substance entry, then check the applicable local law. Don't assume every jurisdiction implements each control identically. The Reader's guide describes controls intended for adoption, rather than automatic uniform implementation.

Use the current edition. An older poisons list can answer a historical question, but it is not the starting point for today's assessment. There is also a date trap: the Register metadata displays 30 September 2026 as effective. Section 2 of the instrument gives 1 October 2026 as commencement. Use that operative clause for the commencement date.

The poisons schedule list

The current Poisons Standard uses the following headings. They help locate the relevant part of the instrument. They are not a universal ascending toxicity scale, GHS hazard categories or a complete permissions table.

For chemical labels, the distinction between Schedules 5, 6 and 7 matters. Within the instrument's applicable labelling scope, section 16 requires the respective signal words CAUTION, POISON and DANGEROUS POISON. These appear on the first line or lines of the main label, in bold sans-serif capitals.

Use the singular POISON on a Schedule 6 label where section 16 applies. The schedule heading is the plural "Poisons". When searching for a Schedule 6 poisons list, read the entries within that schedule rather than using the heading as a product classification.

The same caution applies to a Schedule 4 poisons list. Its heading covers prescription only medicines and prescription animal remedies. Section 16 distinguishes the label wording PRESCRIPTION ONLY MEDICINE from PRESCRIPTION ANIMAL REMEDY. Read the entry and applicable requirements before choosing label text.

How to look up a substance

A useful lookup follows the substance through the instrument, instead of stopping at the first matching name.

1. Open the current instrument on the Federal Register of Legislation. Check that you are using the in-force edition.
2. Find the substance entry in the full text. Read its qualifications, including any conditions tied to concentration or use.
3. Identify the relevant schedule. Do not turn a substance-level entry into a product approval.
4. Check the scope of the labelling provisions and relevant exemptions before selecting label wording.
5. Read the applicable Appendix E and Appendix F entries. Follow their codes to the corresponding statements.
6. Check the controls that apply in the state or territory concerned.

Keep those questions separate. Scheduling, labelling and product approval do not give the same answer, and a lookup that ends with "Schedule 6" has not yet resolved the full compliance task.

When the label rules apply

Before transferring signal words or appendix text onto a label, check the instrument's scope. Section 11 limits Part 2 through specified exemptions. The individual provisions also contain exemptions that need separate attention.

Section 38 gives a labelling exemption only when both conditions are met. The poison must be packed and sold solely for dispensary, industrial, laboratory or manufacturing purposes, and it must be labelled under applicable jurisdictional work health and safety laws. Calling a product an "industrial chemical" does not, by itself, establish the exemption.

That exemption concerns the instrument's labelling requirements. It does not remove all poison controls. Record why the exemption applies before treating the Poisons Standard label provisions as inapplicable.

Appendix E and first aid statements

Appendix E connects particular poisons with first aid statements. Clause 1 gives the text associated with the codes, while clause 3 identifies the codes required for listed poisons.

Read the entry conditions before selecting a code. Requirements can depend on concentration, schedule or use. Statements also need appropriate modification for the formulation, physical form or presentation. Clause 1 permits a different statement with the same intent.

Under section 31, the applicable clause 3 statements must be grouped under FIRST AID. If inner containers require different first aid, each needs its own instructions. The outer pack then carries "FIRST AID: See inner packs."

These are label provisions, not treatment advice for an exposure. For label preparation, use the actual entry and its conditions rather than copying first aid text from another product.

Appendix F warnings and safety directions

Appendix F separates numbered warning statements in clause 1 from numbered safety directions in clause 2. Clause 4 maps particular poisons to those numbers. It requires the applicable statements and directions, with appropriate completion or modification.

This is not a generic warning list to paste onto every label. Follow the poison's clause 4 entry, then read the corresponding numbered text. The appendix permits suitable combinations into simple sentences.

Section 29 requires the Appendix F clause 4 safety directions to be grouped under SAFETY DIRECTIONS. Under section 30, the relevant warnings follow that heading immediately. Where no safety directions are required, the warnings go immediately before the directions for use.

Sections 29(2), 30(2) and 31(2) exempt human medicines labelled in accordance with the required advisory statements for medicine labels. The same subsections exempt agricultural and veterinary (agvet) chemicals that are registered chemical products under the specified Agvet Code. Section 31 also exempts poisons for human internal use in Schedules 3, 4 or 8.

Do not extend these exemptions to every medicine or agricultural chemical. Nor does the registered-agvet exemption establish that a pesticide needs no safety or first aid labelling under other requirements.

What SUSMP Appendix H means for advertising

Appendix H lists Schedule 3 medicines permitted to be advertised. Section 57(1)(a) applies its Schedule 3 advertising restriction unless the poison is included in Appendix H.

Inclusion removes that particular restriction. It does not change the schedule or establish compliance with every other advertising requirement. When checking SUSMP Appendix H, confirm the current entry rather than relying on an old medicine list.

For a cited explanation of the schedules and label appendices, read RegAffairs AI's answer on the Poisons Standard. The October 2026 instrument remains the source for the entries and appendix wording discussed here.