Was just granted a Work and Holiday Visa. I am a college student from the US and am relocating to Melbourne around August for 5-6 months for holiday.
despite having gone over information from the TGA/etc, I still have NO idea what to do about bringing my medication. I am diagnosed with ADHD and Panic disorder and take Vyvanse and Clonazepam, as well as lamotrigine for bi-polar disorder.
I understand that a couple of these are controlled substances. I know, from base, that I need (obviously)
-the prescription
-medicine intact in bottle w/ name, doctor's name, etc
-note from doctor/psychiatrist/prescriber
-reasons for prescriptions
-declaration of medication
-up to 3 months of medication
The problem comes up when I see that these are controlled substances (S8 it seems?) and there are talks of import/export permits. I took a look at the permit forms, but they seem to be composed of complete jargon definitely not meant to be filled out by a consumer.
So I suppose my questions are the following:
-Will I be able to take my medication with me at all? I don't even see it as being available in Australia. This is leaving me really stressed/torn.
-What EXACTLY do I have to do travel into the country with these? Again, the forms and licenses are confusing me and I'm ending up in webpage loops.
-What do I do to ensure I have enough/proper medication throughout my stay?
-Is there ANYTHING else that should be noted? Do I take out insurance and try and find the prescriptions while I am there? I have had extremely negative experiences being prescribed and taking methylphenidate.
TL;DR - I am a US citizen and student, need to continue my ADHD regiment while abroad, and am afraid of having to either stop the medication entirely and be denied treatment, or switch to a different medication that does not work well with me at all. Please provide details, as I have already scoured for hours searching for all of this in detail
Thanks so much!