Plans for national roll-out of real-time prescription monitoring in disarray

The plan to roll out the Electronic Recording and Reporting of Controlled Drugs (ERRCD) system on a national level is in disarray four years after it was first announced, with one state going it alone, another hedging its bets and still others waiting for guidance from the federal government.

Despite calls last year from eight peak bodies for the government to develop a clear implementation timeline and repeated calls by coroners for the urgent roll-out of the system, only Victoria has dedicated significant resources to implementing ERRCD, with a $29.5 million allocation in last month's state budget.