Hon Tim Nicholls MP

This bill replaces the nearly 80-year-old legislation governing the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), one of Australia's leading medical research organisations. It modernises governance arrangements, introduces integrity safeguards for Council members, and creates a framework for rewarding researchers when their work is commercialised.

This bill makes technical improvements to several health-related laws before they take full effect. It clarifies pharmacy ownership rules, moves dust lung disease reporting to a national system, allows mosquito traps to be left on properties to detect Japanese Encephalitis Virus, and fixes minor issues in mental health and radiation safety legislation.

This bill dramatically strengthens Queensland's enforcement powers against illegal tobacco and nicotine vape sales. It extends business closure periods from 72 hours to 3 months, creates new criminal and civil penalties for landlords who allow illegal sales on their premises, and enables undercover operations to catch offenders.

This bill puts frontline health workers on Hospital and Health Boards and cracks down on illegal vaping. It requires each hospital board to include at least one doctor, nurse or allied health professional who actually works at that hospital. It also allows Queensland Health to immediately destroy seized vaping products rather than storing them for weeks, and lets courts make convicted sellers pay enforcement costs.

This bill makes wide-ranging changes to eight Queensland health laws. The main reforms include strengthening oversight of IVF clinics while adding flexibility for families facing hardship, allowing the government to remove health board members more easily, requiring cosmetic surgery facilities to meet new national safety standards, and creating a legal framework to maximise organ donation opportunities.

This bill reforms how cancelled or disqualified health practitioners can regain their registration, increases transparency about practitioners found guilty of sexual misconduct, and strengthens protections for people who report concerns. It amends the national framework regulating Australia's 16 registered health professions.