VSU
VSU legislation
The possession and use of volatile substances is not illegal in Western Australia as volatile substance products are not illegal substances. However, it is illegal to sell or supply intoxicants, including volatile substances, to people likely to use them for the purpose of intoxication.
There are also laws which allow police to confiscate volatile substances and move minors to a safe place if they are deemed to be intoxicated or at-risk.
Some Aboriginal communities in Western Australia also have by-laws relating to the use, possession and supply of volatile substances. For more information, see the Aboriginal Communities Act 1979.
While there are some legislative options for dealing with volatile substance use (VSU), criminalisation is widely agreed to be an ineffective strategy to address the behaviour.
In its consideration of existing initiatives, programs and strategies to address VSU in Australia, the National Inhalant Abuse Taskforce recommended Guiding Principles for Inhalant Legislation to assist the development of best practice legislation and highlight key areas for consideration in a legislative response to VSU.
The three overarching general principles are:
- The primary aim of legislation should be to protect the health and welfare of people who use volatile substances.
- Legislation should not criminalise the behaviour of people who use volatile substances and should protect their civil rights.
- Communities may be best placed to make their own decisions and rules about VSU issues in their community.
(National Inhalant Abuse Taskforce, 2006)
Western Australian legislation
There is a range of VSU-related legislation in Western Australia. See below for more information.
Medicines and Poisons Act 2014
There are a range of volatile substances classified in the national Poisons Standard of the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 as Schedule 5, 6 and 7 poisons. These have requirements around appropriate storage, packaging, warning labels and safety directions.
Nitrous oxide for non-therapeutic (medical) use is scheduled in the national Poisons Standard as a Schedule 6 (S6) poison. Manufacturers must follow packaging and labelling rules, and apply mandatory warnings.
Nitrous oxide in Schedule 6, including for food use, must be labelled with the words:
- "WARNING – May cause irreversible nerve damage if inhaled"
- "Do not intentionally inhale contents"
In response to the harms caused through increased availability and use of nitrous oxide, the Western Australian Government has introduced further regulatory supply controls from November 2024.
Under the new regulations, nitrous oxide for food use can only be supplied in small bulbs, containing up to 10g of gas, and will only be accessible to:
- registered food businesses;
- selected businesses with a liquor licence;
- schools and other educational institutions; and
- cooking school businesses.
For medical use, nitrous oxide is a prescription only medicine – possession, prescription and supply is limited to certain health practitioners and authorised persons.
For more information, visit the Nitrous oxide webpage on the Department of Health website.
Criminal Code 1913 (Section 206)
The Western Australian Criminal Code 1913 refers to the sale and supply of volatile substances under Section 206, Supplying intoxicants to people likely to abuse them.
It states: “A person who sells or supplies an intoxicant to another person in circumstances where the person knows, or where it is reasonable to suspect, that that or another person will use it to become intoxicated is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of $12, 000”.
Section 206 specifically identifies an intoxicant as "a drug, or a volatile or other substance, capable of intoxicating a person" and a volatile substance as "a substance that produces a vapour at room temperature".
Protective Custody Act 2000
The Protective Custody Act 2000 (section 5-14) allows authorised officers to seize and destroy any substance that is, or may contribute to, the intoxication of a minor. The Act specifically includes volatile substances in its definition of an 'intoxicant'.
The Act also authorises the apprehension of intoxicated persons requiring protection of their health or safety or that of others. Adults must be released, as soon as practicable, into the care of a responsible adult or an appropriate facility. Minors must be released to a parent, guardian, responsible adult or, as a last resort, an appropriate facility.
Children and Community Services Act 2004
Section 41 of the Children and Community Services Act 2004 enables police officers to move children who are not currently at their place of residence, who are not under the supervision of a responsible adult and are behaving in a manner that places them at risk, to a safe place. The provision is very broad and requires an assessment by the police officer.
Aboriginal Communities Act 1979
Section 7 of the Aboriginal Communities Act (1979) relates to Aboriginal by-laws, which the council of a community can make relating to the lands of that community. These can include the prohibition, restriction or regulation of the possession, use or supply of alcoholic liquor or deleterious substances (including volatile substances).
By-laws empower police to apprehend any person guilty of a breach of any by-law and to remove such a person from the community lands.
Other legislation
Other legislation exists to deal with criminal behaviours that may be associated with VSU, such as assault, theft, sexual assault, and driving while intoxicated. For example, the Young Offenders Act 1994 allows for a young person charged with an offence deemed to be in relation to their intoxication or dependence on a substance, to be required to attend a treatment program.
For more legislative information, see the WA State Law Publisher website.
Other States
Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention Act 2006
The Northern Territory (NT) Government introduced the Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention (VSAP) Act in 2006 to assist in the prevention, early intervention and treatment of VSU in the NT. The Act has since been reviewed and the amended Act was proclaimed in 2010.
The VSAP Act gives NT police the power to seize inhalants, apprehend those under the influence and take them to a safe place. It gives courts the capacity to order compulsory treatment and gives community members and shire councils the ability to apply for a 'Community Management Area' within which the possession, supply and use of volatile substances is not permitted.
While most states have legislation covering many of the same provisions as the VSAP Act, the NT is the only state that has specific provisions for mandatory treatment for persons deemed to be at risk of severe harm from VSU; and a provision for creating 'community management areas' relating to the possession, supply and use of volatile substances. For more information, see VSAP Act factsheet.
Controlled Substances Act - Nitrous oxide
In South Australia the sale of nitrous oxide is regulated by the Controlled Substances Act (1984), which was updated in 2019 to include regulations that impose penalties for the sale of nitrous oxide for brick and mortar stores and online businesses.
Under the Controlled Substances (Poisons) (Nitrous Oxide) Variation Regulations 2019 it is an offence to:
- sell or supply to people under the age of 18
- sell between the hours of 10pm and 5am
- make nitrous oxide visible or accessible to the public in retail stores
- fail to display a notice on the premises that details the offence of selling to under-18s.
Penalties
- If nitrous oxide is sold from 10pm to 5am, the seller can be fined up to $5,000.
- If the retailer fails to store nitrous oxide out of sight and inaccessible to the public, they can be fined up to $5,000.
- If the retailer fails to display a notice on the premises detailing the offence to sell or supply to under-18s, they can receive an on-the-spot expiation of $315 or be fined up to $2,500.
NSW Health have recently sought feedback on proposed regulation of non-therapeutic nitrous oxide in response to an increase in harm associated with recreational nitrous oxide use across NSW.
NSW Health is proposing reforms that aim to:
- reduce the risks and harms associated with recreational nitrous oxide use
- encourage responsible retail practices
- promote public safety.
Commonwealth legislation
Low Aromatic Fuel Act 2013
Since 2005, the replacement of regular unleaded petrol (91) with Low Aromatic Fuel (LAF) has been a strategy used to address petrol sniffing in some parts of regional and remote Australia.
LAF is an unleaded petrol that has been designed to discourage people from sniffing by lowering the amount of the toxic aromatic components, which can cause intoxication. It is funded by the Australian Government allowing it to be sold at a similar price to regular unleaded petrol.
The Low Aromatic Fuel Act 2013 was created to promote the supply of LAF and control the supply of other fuels in certain areas to reduce potential harm to the health of people, including Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders, living in those areas from sniffing petrol.
The Act allows the Minister for Indigenous Australians to designate low aromatic fuel areas and/or fuel control areas where fuel retailers do not convert to selling LAF, and prohibit the supply and sale of regular unleaded petrol.
When an area is designated as a LAF area, Section 8 of the Act makes it an offence for a Corporation to:
- supply regular unleaded petrol to a person in a low aromatic fuel area
- transport regular unleaded petrol to supply to a person in a low aromatic fuel area
- possess regular unleaded petrol to supply to a person in a low aromatic fuel area.
For more information visit the National Indigenous Australians Agency website.
Page last updated18 July 2025