Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

National Medical Stockpile Fact Sheet

The National Medical Stockpile (NMS) is a national strategic reserve of essential vaccines, antibiotics and antiviral drugs, and chemical and radiological antidotes, personal protective equipment. The NMS also holds sufficient medical equipment to administer pandemic influenza vaccine to the Australian community.

The Stockpile is intended to supplement existing stocks of medical equipment and drugs kept in the Australian hospital system to ensure that these supplies are readily available, and in sufficient quantities, in the event of a public health incident in Australia.

Policy decisions regarding the distribution of the Stockpile in the event of an influenza pandemic are made by the Australian Health Protection Committee and the Chief Medical Officer of Australia. The Stockpile will initially be deployed to ensure that essential community and health services (e.g., police, ambulance, public hospitals) can continue to operate effectively in an influenza pandemic. Australian border protection officers and public health workers will also have priority so that the entry of pandemic influenza into Australia can be delayed for as long as possible.

The Stockpile is kept in various strategic locations around Australia and specific details regarding the content of the Stockpile is not released publicly for security reasons.