Mr Bennett asked the Minister for Health, upon notice:

(1)   Has his attention been drawn to the use of vibrator machines, that use electric impulses to reduce the user's weight, similar to those banned for import by the Commonwealth.

(2)   Are these machines manufactured in Australia.

(3)   If so, what standards are set by Health Authorities on their manufacture.

(4)   Is it considered that the standards and supervision are sufficient.

(5)   If not, what action does he intend to take.

Dr Everingham - The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1)   Yes. My attention has been drawn to the use in Australia of vibrator machines similar to those which are imported. It should be noted, however, that the importation of machines which use electric impulses to cause muscular contractions and claim to reduce the user's weight is not automatically prohibited. On the advice of my Department, the Department of Customs and Excise permits importation under the following conditions:

(i)   the articles must in every, case be certified by a medical practitioner to be for use in his own practice; and

(ii)   if imported by a merchant, the latter must produce in addition to the aforementioned certificate, a written order from the medical practitioner and must satisfy the Collector of Customs that he had this order before he ordered the goods from abroad.

(iii)   there is no objection to literature relating to the goods.

(2)   Machines similar to those being imported are manufactured in Australia.

(3)   and (4) There are no standards set by the Health authorities either in the States or in the Territories.

(5)   The Medical Standards Committee of the Standards Association of Australia will shortly meet to inquire into electrical standards for goods of this kind and my Department is represented on this Committee. The findings of this Committee will be incorporated into electrical standards for these goods to be prepared under the Therapeutic Goods Act, 1966. Standards under this Act apply to goods that are imported, supplied as pharmaceutical benefits, supplied to the Australian Government, an authority of the Government or a Federal Territory, or that are the subject of interstate trade. To achieve Australia-wide uniformity it is necessary for each State to incorporate these standards into its legislation. The avenue for Federal/State co-operation in adopting uniform standards is the National Therapeutic Goods Committee on which are represented the Federal and State health authorities. Although the Therapeutic Goods Act will provide a means of controlling electrical standards, its scope cannot extend to control of the distribution of these goods or the therapeutic uses to which they are put. The regulation of these latter aspects is already established for imported goods as stated in my reply to Part (1) ofthe Question but there has not been parallel legislation passed in the Territories and the States in respect of items manufactured in Australia. Aware of this anomalous situation the National Therapeutic Goods Committee currently has under consideration a proposal that the Australian Government and each State Government enact or modify legislation so that controls over the distribution and use of locally manufactured machines will be complementary to those already applying to imported machines.