During 1985 the Antibiotic Committee, established under the auspices of the VMPF late in 1984, conducted a study of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in 12 Victorian hospitals. One of each pair was randomly designated as the target for educational intervention, the other remaining as a control. A grant of $85,000 from the Health Commission of Victoria to the VMPF funded the project.

It aimed to replicate the pilot study at The Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1983 using educational interventions to alter entrenched, inappropriate prescribing habits.

Seconded from The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Fiona Landgren became the first paid staff member as the Antibiotic Project pharmacist in 1985. Hospitals which had been selected for educational intervention received direct mail, posters and lectures. Ken Harvey presented lectures and created a computer program to analyse the survey results. Fiona Landgren visited surgeons and anaesthetists at the intervention hospitals to discuss the survey results. A specially scripted 10-minute film titled ‘Proceed with caution’ was sent to the intervention hospitals to show to staff. Advertisements were published in medical journals.