Pharmacy location rule changes to improve access to medicines
The rules governing the location of pharmacies in Australia will be fairer and more transparent following changes that come into force from 18 October 2011
View by date:
Previous MinistersPDF printable version of Pharmacy location rule changes to improve access to medicines (PDF 17 KB)
27 September 2011
The rules governing the location of pharmacies in Australia will be fairer and more transparent following changes that come into force from 18 October 2011.
The Pharmacy Location Rules are in place to regulate the distribution of pharmacies in Australia, which helps to ensure Australia has a well distributed, sustainable and accessible pharmacy network.
Announcing the changes, Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon said they would benefit patients when pharmacists wanted to establish a new pharmacy in areas where there was a demonstrated community need.
“Under these amendments, an existing pharmacy approval is no longer required before a new pharmacy can be established in facilities such as shopping centres, large medical centres and private hospitals—or in towns where there is only one pharmacy,” Minister Roxon said.
The changes also include streamlining the previous rules to make them easier to interpret, as well as simplifying the test for determining that there are a sufficient number of people who would use a new pharmacy.
The changes will more closely align the rules with the Australian Government’s national health reforms. In particular, the requirements to establish a pharmacy in a ‘large medical centre’ have been changed to make it easier for teams comprising different health care professionals, including pharmacists, to work together.
Minister Roxon said the changes followed an independent review of the Pharmacy Location Rules conducted last year.
“The amendments address issues raised both in the review and in extensive consultation with key stakeholder organisations, including the Pharmacy Guild of Australia,” Minister Roxon said.
“They support the Government’s commitment to improve community access to PBS medicines by encouraging the establishment of pharmacies in areas where they are most needed.”
Further information is available from www.health.gov.au/acpa
For further information contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220.
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.