Changes to pharmacy ownership in australia

Author Bill Suen Published 6 July 2009

The proposed National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) will come into force on 1 July 2010. The scheme is a single system to register and accredit a broad cross-section of health professional groups. It seeks to reduce red tape and increase flexibility among healthcare professionals.

Since the Australian Health Work Force Ministerial Council released the draft legislation in June 2009, it has become apparent that the scheme poses several problems for pharmacy practitioners in regards to Australia's unique pharmacy ownership restrictions.

Pharmacy ownership is currently legislated by state and territory governments. In order to own a pharmacy, an individual must be a registered pharmacist and cannot own more than five or six pharmacies, depending on which state or territory they reside in.

The draft legislation provides for the automatic national recognition of all registered health practitioners. At the moment, a Victorian registered pharmacist can legally own only five pharmacies. If they want to own more pharmacies, they can do so only in another state. They must also attain the appropriate registration to do so.

Come 1 July 2010, every registered pharmacist in Australia will be deemed to be registered in every state and territory. As a result, they are automatically qualified to own a total of more than 30 pharmacies across the country. This change runs counter to the reason for restricting pharmacy ownership: that pharmacists are required on site to professionally supervise the operations of these specialist businesses.

The draft legislation also requires all health professionals to provide proof of continuing professional development activities before they are allowed to re-register. However this requirement is waived for the category of ‘non-practising’ registration. While this legislation may be relevant to other health professionals, it doesn't work for pharmacists.

Restricting pharmacy ownership to registered practising pharmacists is designed to maintain best practice in a specialised field. Allowing out-of-touch 'non-practising' pharmacists to own and operate pharmacies surely undermines this principle.

For more information visit the National Health Workforce website:
www.nhwt.gov.au/natreg.asp