April 2025

News and Updates

Issue 44 - April 2025

From the Chair
Board news
Practice advice
- New case study published
- Meeting your obligations while using social media
News and alerts
Stay in touch with the Board

From the Chair

Image of Cameron Phillips

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2025, with updates on the Pharmacy Board of Australia’s work. We are continuing with our review of registration standards and guidelines and look forward to hearing your views once public consultation begins later this year.

In this issue we also highlight the obligations all pharmacists have, to provide care that is free of discrimination and racism, as well as reminding pharmacists of the critical contribution they can make in Australia’s response to tackling family violence.

Cameron Phillips
Chair, Pharmacy Board of Australia

Board news

Pharmacist Capability and Assessment Frameworks in development

The Board will fund the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) to develop a Pharmacist Capability Framework and a corresponding Assessment Framework, alongside the next iteration of the Accreditation Standards for Pharmacy Programs.

The Board’s Pharmacist Capability Framework will describe the entry-level capabilities of a newly registered pharmacist who is adaptable to future practice change. The Assessment Framework will set out how future pharmacists will demonstrate their achievement against the capability framework. See the diagram below.

APC has begun developing both frameworks, which will include wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders, the public and the profession. APC will then start consultation on the next version of the accreditation standards for pharmacy programs.

See the Board's website for more detail on what the new frameworks will cover and how they will interact with existing standards.

Oral examination update

The Board’s oral examination (practice) is held in each jurisdiction according to the Schedule of Oral Examinations on the Board’s website.

The oral examination (practice) is delivered face to face except in exceptional circumstances such as:

face-to-face examinations are not permitted (e.g. due to public health restrictions)
examiners are unavailable in a smaller jurisdiction (e.g. unable to travel due to public health restrictions or to conflict of interests)
out of sessions exams (held outside the three main exam periods) for return to practice, limited registrants, or candidates who unable to attend exams due to illness or adverse event
candidates in a remote or rural location who are offered the choice to sit an online exam (to mitigate inconvenience and cost of travel and accommodation)
smaller jurisdictions (e.g. NT, ACT, Tasmania), where the candidate numbers are less than 10
other unforeseen circumstances where the requirement to deliver a face-to-face examination would adversely impact the candidate’s opportunity to take the examination.

If it is necessary to deliver the examinations online, candidates will be informed of these arrangements in an email confirming the date and time of their examination.

If a candidate believes their circumstances warrant the offer of an online examination, they must detail their request in an email to the examinations team at the time of submitting their application.

For more information, see the Schedule of Oral Examinations on the Board’s website.

Latest workforce data released

The Board’s latest quarterly registration data report covers the period to 31 December 2024. At this date there were 40,000 registered pharmacists, including:

34,771 with general registration
3,547 with provisional registration
38 with limited registration
1,644 with non-practising registration.

There are 119 pharmacists who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, 0.3 per cent of the profession.

For further data breakdowns by division, age, gender and principal place of practice, visit the Board's Statistics page.

Practice advice

New case study published

The Board publishes case studies to help pharmacists understand and meet their professional and legal obligations.

A new case study published this month examines an incident where therapeutic vapes were supplied without an appropriate assessment for therapeutic need.

Meeting your obligations while using social media

While using social media, it’s important to remember that all your professional and legal obligations as a practitioner continue to apply, just as when you interact in person.

Key things to keep in mind include:

maintaining privacy and confidentiality
requirements under your Board’s Code of conduct
communicating professionally and respectfully
maintaining professional boundaries and not presenting information that is false, misleading or deceptive.

You have the right to communicate and express your views on social media, but you need to make sure your activities do not involve abuse, discrimination or present a risk to the public.

The Ahpra website has detailed guidance on how to meet your obligations while using social media, as well as a range of case studies covering different potential issues such as protecting patient confidentiality, discrimination and maintaining professional boundaries.

News and alerts

Discrimination and racism will not be tolerated

Joint statement from Ahpra and the National Boards

More than 900,000 registered health practitioners provide much needed safe healthcare every day in Australia.

Safe healthcare relies on trust between patients and practitioners. Discrimination and racism erode that trust and put lives at risk.

There is no place for discrimination, racism or intolerance in healthcare.

Ahpra and the National Boards remind registered health practitioners of their obligations under their codes of conduct and ethics to provide care that is free of discrimination and racism. The codes of conduct and ethics set out the legal requirements, professional behaviour and conduct expectations for registered health practitioners in Australia. The codes underpin the requirements for safe and respectful practice.

The shared Code of conduct that applies to pharmacists states that good practice includes that you:

respect diverse cultures, beliefs, gender identities, sexualities and experiences of people, including among team members
adopt practices that respect diversity, avoid bias, discrimination and racism, and challenge belief based upon assumption.

Pharmacists must also comply with the standards of their workplace and adopt practices that foster a respectful, inclusive and safe healthcare environment.

Read the news item.

Joint statement on family violence

Australia’s health practitioner regulators are united in their view that family violence is unacceptable.

For the first time ever, these regulators issued a joint statement reminding practitioners of the critical contribution they can make in Australia’s response to tackling family violence.

The statement recognises the role of regulators in the collective effort to end family violence by supporting victim-survivors, setting clear expectations of health practitioners, taking regulatory action as appropriate and condemning all forms of family violence.

Health practitioners are often the first point of contact for victim-survivors, so play an essential role in the early detection, support, referral, and delivery of specialised treatment to those experiencing family violence.

Health practitioners are also reminded that their own conduct, as well as that of their colleagues, must reflect the trust and confidence the public have in them for safe and effective healthcare. Regulators work to ensure health practitioners are safe, ethical, and professional for the protection of the public.

Read the media release.

New Ahpra portal

Ahpra recently launched a new online portal, where you can access new digital smart forms for applications and renewal of registration.

Your Ahpra portal will be where you can manage your registration. You can download your registration certificate, renew your registration, and apply to change your registration type.

Next time you log in the experience will be a bit different. We’ve introduced multifactor authentication (also called two-step verification) for additional account security. There is also a new proof of identity process. Your identity will be verified by a third party using biometric verification.

You don’t need to do anything until it’s time for you to renew your registration. Look out for the usual reminders for this and we’ll explain how to set up your account then.

Need to access your Ahpra portal now? Go to our Ahpra Portal help centre.

Help protect your data

Help protect your data by being alert to scammers and only logging in to the Ahpra portal direct from the Ahpra website: www.ahpra.gov.au.

We will only ask you to log in to your Ahpra portal when you’re due to renew your registration.

Updated English language skills registration standard now in effect

The revised Registration standard: English language skills is now in effect. While already registered practitioners won’t need to meet this standard, these changes will enable more flexible pathways for future applicants, getting more practitioners into the workforce safely.

Important changes to the standard include expanding the list of recognised countries, reducing the accepted score for the writing component of approved English language tests to IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent), adding the Cambridge English language skills test and improving flexibility for applicants to meet National Boards’ English language skill requirements.

Ahpra appoints new CEO

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has appointed Justin Untersteiner as Chief Executive Officer.

Justin, who has started his role this month, brings over 20 years’ experience in regulation and compliance, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Ahpra Board Chair Gill Callister PSM said that Justin was an impressive leader who stood out in a field of domestic and international candidates.

‘Justin’s experience in leading change and bringing new approaches, combined with his knowledge of regulation and compliance, made him a standout candidate,’ she said.

‘Justin’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Ahpra, and the Board is looking forward to working with him to build the next phase of Australia’s health regulation system.’

Justin succeeds Martin Fletcher, who completed his final term as CEO in December 2024.

Learn more about Ahpra’s new CEO.

Stay in touch with the Board

Visit the Pharmacy Board website for news about the profession, information on the National Scheme and for registration standards, codes, guidelines, policies and fact sheets.
Lodge an online enquiry.
For registration enquiries call 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or +61 3 9125 3010 (for overseas callers).
Address mail correspondence to the Chair, Pharmacy Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne VIC 3000.