Funnily enough I was just reading up on this when I saw the thread.
The taking of samples must done by a person approved by CASA or accredited to AS 4760.
The other problem is that the regs specify that testing for alcohol must be done by breath analysis and testing for drugs done by mouth or urine sample. Most of the path labs you go to for the D&A test will just take a p1ss test. Some may do the mouth swab test but I would think very few if any do a breath test. If a breath test is initially positive, it then requires a confirmatory test and the equipment has to meet very stringent certification requirements. Whereas the preliminary test can be done with an "approved" machine.
I thought I had this sussed but I guess I will be making a phone call to CASA tomorrow for some clarification.
A bigger problem is the nomination of the Medical Review Officer who is required under the regs to sign off and clear a person to return to SSAA after a positive test result.
I heard recently of a guy having to travel 1000km to do a breath test.