The Australian Government is continuing its efforts to amend legislation, banning the distribution and sale of synthetic drugs.

Currently, psychoactive compounds and other synthetic drugs need to be specifically legislated against to be illegal. If not their importation, sale and manufacture is not prohibited. The Government is proposing changes that would reverse the onus of proof, flipping the assumption so that new drugs are presumed to be illegal until the authorities know what they are and clear them as safe.

A national drug monitoring system will also be established to collect and disseminate information on synthetic drugs. It will include the development of a database, making use of existing intelligence sharing networks and information sources.

The database will be administered by the Australian Federal Police and will provide a source of information on the chemical profiles, street names, potential harms, sources, supply channels and distribution methods of synthetic drugs.

The new measures will be discussed when relevant ministers meet at the Standing Council on Police and Emergency Management in Darwin on the 4th and 5th of July