Australia
 APUA-Australia
was established in1988 with the support of both the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology and the Antimicrobials Special Interest
Group. There are 63 members, comprised of medical, laboratory and
pharmacy personnel. Most are public hospital based although some
are from private laboratories. Many of the hospital appointees also
have university affiliations.
In Australia, the
Therapeutic Goods Administration, the
equivalent of the US FDA, and its advisory body Australian Drug
Evaluation Committee (ADEC) control licensing of antibiotics.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme controls antibiotic
availability by cost subsidy and Hospital Drug committees
control their availability in hospitals. The most important
bacterial resistance in Australia are MRSA (both nosocomial and
community variants), multi-resistant Streptococcus
pneumoniae, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and extended
spectrum beta-lactamase producing Gram-negative bacteria.
 This common sense approach to the continuing dilemmas of antibiotic use and microbial resistance has now been in publication for 25 years.
2003 updated therapeutic guidelines on antibioticsUpcoming International Chapter Events
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