Nano regulations in Australia

On the 5th February 2005, the Federal Industry Minister, Ian MacFarlane, announced the development of a national nanotechnology strategy. The media release said:“Australia has an opportunity to be part of this world-wide movement towards smaller and greater efficiency in many aspects of our daily lives, not only as a developer of the technology, but also as a responsible regulator of the field.”

“From an industry perspective we have to capture the commercial opportunities of developing this field but it’s just as important that the environmental, health and social issues are understood and properly monitored".The Nanotechnology Taskforce has said that it is going to hold a ‘public consultation’ process to inform its development of options for a future national nanotechnology strategy (due June 2006). No information has been made available about this process or its timeline yet.