High risk medicines are medicines with an increased risk of causing significant patient harm or death if misused or used in error. It’s important health professionals have procedures in place to manage high risk medicines safely.

Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm. We have resources and guidance to help health professionals improve the safety of medicine naming, labelling, storage and packaging.

Our selection of resources and safety statements provide guidance and information on the safe and quality use of medicines.

Medication charts help standardise medicines management and increase medicines safety. These charts are based on the best evidence available at the time of development.

We lead national initiatives to reduce medication errors and harm from medicines. Information on these pages can help health service organisations and clinicians identify and implement strategies to improve medication safety. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the third Global Patient Safety Challenge in 2017 with the theme of medication without harm. Our response highlights Australia's goal to reduce medication errors, adverse drug events and medication-related harm.

Medicine shortages and discontinuations can potentially compromise patient safety. Health professionals and services should consider risk reduction strategies during periods of medicines shortages and discontinuations.

The annual National Medicines Symposium brings together leading organisations, experts, health professionals, consumers and policymakers to discuss and debate key issues around quality use of medicines.

This resource for consumers explains what each quality statement in the Opioid Analgesic Stewardship in Acute Pain Clinical Care Standard means for people presenting with acute pain to the emergency department or following in-patient surgery.