9th Feb 2006, 4:25 PM – Senate Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of Ru486) Bill 2005 - In Committee - Amend the current process

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Senator Richard Colbeck and Senator Nigel Scullion, which means that it was unsuccessful.

This amendment opposes the main purpose of this bill, which is to remove ministerial responsibility for approval of RU486 and related medicines. Instead, the amendment would have made some changes to the current process but fundamentally kept it in place. In other words, ultimate responsibility for approving RU486 would remain with the Minister. Senator Colbeck explained that "as elected representatives we should have some oversight of that process".(Read Senator Colbeck's full explanation and the associated debate here, after 4:11 pm. )

This division was a conscience vote, meaning that senators were not required to vote along party lines.

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 in order to transfer the responsibility for regulatory approval of RU486 from the Minister for Health and Ageing to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. This will make it possible to evaluate, register, list or import abortifacients such as RU486 (i.e. medicines intended to induce an abortion) for use in Australia without the approval of the Minister.(Read more about the bill in its bills digest (342 KB). More information, including its explanatory memorandum, is available here.)