The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Interim Report, released on 31 October 2019, identified a need to respond to the significant overreliance on chemical restraint in aged care.¹

In response to this, the Australian Government announced their plan to establish stronger safeguards and restrictions on repeat prescriptions of risperidone for the treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) of the Alzheimer type.² These took effect on 1 January 2020.³

Using the streamlined authority prescription process, risperidone may be prescribed for an ‘initial’ 12 weeks of therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease characterised by psychotic symptoms and aggression who have failed to respond to non-pharmacological measures.

A 12-week initial treatment prescription may only be written once every 12 months.