The Australia government is making significant digital reforms to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to cut red tape for more than 4,000 businesses applying to register medicines and medical devices each year, as part of its Deregulation Agenda which will also improve the timeliness of report on patient safety.

Australia is investing $12 million over four years to digitise, transform and modernise the TGA’s business systems and infrastructure, better connecting services to get medicines and devices to patients sooner.

New digital processes will deliver simpler and faster interactions between industry and government. This means earlier approvals of medical products, reduced administrative effort, and timelier decision-making by the TGA.

Under this Deregulation Agenda, the government is focused on ensuring regulation is and remains fit-for-purpose – making it easier to do business while ensuring essential safeguards with the lightest touch.

This measure will yield a significant reduction in red tape, cutting costs for the medicines and medical devices industry. It will also position Australia to more quickly access emerging and new health technologies in the international market.

The TGA receives around 26,000 applications every year for medicines and medical devices to be listed or amended on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), which allows them to be imported, sold and used in Australia.

The digital changes will enable simpler and more secure interactions between Government and industry to apply for, track, pay, and manage listings for regulated and subsidised health related products and services.