Taking everyday medicine to Australia - do I need documentation for these?
I was planning a trip to Australia next month and was wondering: do I need to do anything/carry permits or prescription for everyday medicine like tylenol (acetaminophen), tums and Imodium?
The Department of Health website
seems intimidating and tempts me not to carry any medicine with me.
Best Answer
For those particular drugs, don't worry about it: acetaminophen, calcium carbonate (Tums) and loperamide (Imodium) are widely available over the counter in Australia itself.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration page for visitors, and in particular its link to the entire list of prohibited substances (which doesn't contain any of those three), is useful for determining if you need any special permits.
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Do you have to declare medication when entering Australia?
You must declare any medicines which may be subject to abuse or misuse. This includes steroids, strong pain medicines, cannabis and other restricted medicines. Injections that contain material of human or animal origin, such as growth hormone, require special permission to bring into the country.Can I take my prescription medication to Australia?
Prescription medication can be imported under a traveller exemption, provided that: you are arriving in Australia as a passenger on board a ship or aircraft. the medicine is carried in your accompanied baggage.Do I need to declare medication at Customs?
The U.S. Department of Justice has set up the following requirements for carrying medicines: All medicines must be declared at customs. The traveller must carry a valid prescription for the medicines. The traveller must be able to present the original prescription at customs.Important documents to bring along with you as an international student in Australia
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Answer 2
I travel in and out of Australia regularly with prescription medication, as well as over the counter stuff like paracetamol.
As long as the prescription stuff is labelled, they never worry (at most they ask if you have enough for your stay in the country).
I generally declare it anyway, but the over the counter stuff - there's a checkbox on the arrival form for bringing in medicines that 'might be restricted'. To be safe I just declare everything, but as jpatokal has pointed out, none of the stuff you are bringing is on the list.
Fun fact: 90% of the time, declaring stuff seems to have a shorter line to get out the airport, so this works well for me ;)
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