Australia: Food, Drugs, Healthcare, Life Sciences

A prisoner made an application to Queensland Corrective Services seeking to have some of her eggs extracted and frozen so that she may undergo ‘assisted reproductive technology’ upon her release from imprisonment.

A case on appeal in NSW focused on whether a sentence handed down for drug supply charges was excessive.

Synergistic combinations in patent law present unique challenges for inventors in chemical, pharmaceutical, and life sciences fields. While combining known components is common practice, only those combinations producing effects greater than the sum of their parts can constitute patentable inventions. This article explores the legal requirements, evidentiary standards, and practical strategies for successfully claiming synergistic effects under Australian patent law.

Health and life sciences continue to rapidly emerge as a major sector in Australia’s economy, driving innovation, medical advancement and scientific understanding. As the sector grows, however, it is increasingly exposed to scrutiny around integrity and the consequences that follow when confidence in research and quality is questioned.

Australia’s health and life sciences sector is growing rapidly, and with that growth comes a more complex web of legal exposure for the organisations that operate within it. The recent Bartier Perry panel event, Health and Life Sciences: Research Integrity Under the Microscope, explored how failures in data and research integrity translate into real-world risk.

A prisoner made an application to Queensland Corrective Services seeking to have some of her eggs extracted and frozen so that she may undergo ‘assisted reproductive technology’ upon her release from imprisonment.

Ministerial Direction 105 allows the government to issue instructions to Home Affairs on how skilled visas should be prioritised, typically taking into account regional needs, sponsorship status and critical sectors.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) has suspended a specialist surgeon’s registration for six months following serious deficiencies in her surgical care, colonoscopy procedures, post-operative management and record-keeping.

New South Wales has announced a permanent pill testing service at music festivals, marking a significant policy shift from its previous enforcement-first approach to drug use. The service will operate at up to 15 festivals annually, offering free and anonymous drug checking backed by $4.3 million in funding. While the initiative follows a promising 12-month trial that showed reduced hospital presentations and meaningful behavioral changes, the program operates within a narrow framework that leaves criminal