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Welcome to our September 2025 newsletter. This edition provides updates on the Board’s recent work including developments in prescribing, and highlights important information about managing medicine shortages.
We also celebrate World Pharmacists Day today, 25 September. On behalf of the Board, I congratulate all pharmacists on the work they do to improve the health and wellbeing of people across Australia and the world.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at our recent stakeholder event held in Brisbane on 28 August. We value these opportunities to engage with the profession and hear your views on current issues affecting pharmacy practice.
Cameron Phillips Chair, Pharmacy Board of Australia
The Pharmacy Board of Australia (the Board) has begun work to establish an endorsement for scheduled medicines for pharmacists, supporting a consistent, safe, and nationally coordinated approach to pharmacist prescribing.
This approach will enhance public protection and facilitate workforce mobility – both core objectives of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).
Establishing an endorsement has been requested by health ministers and is the next stage in the Board’s extensive work since 2018 to explore pharmacist prescribing arrangements that ensure public safety.
The Board looks forward to engaging with all stakeholders and interested parties about this important work to support a safe and nationally coordinated approach to pharmacist prescribing.
Read our news item for more information.
We have issued new guidance for pharmacists involved in the supply of prescribed medicinal cannabis, as poor practice can lead to significant patient harm.
The new guidance reminds pharmacists to be as careful and diligent when supplying medicinal cannabis as they are when supplying other drugs of dependence.
The guidance aims to support pharmacists to practise safely and meet their professional responsibilities, including compliance with the Code of conduct.
Safe and appropriate supply of prescribed medicinal cannabis includes determining the prescriber's intentions as to the prescribed medicinal cannabis, reviewing the patient’s medication history and other relevant information, counselling the patient, exercising independent judgement to ensure the medicinal cannabis is safe and appropriate for the patient and contacting the prescriber to discuss any concerns, seek clarification and if required, confirm any changes to therapy.
Supplying medicinal cannabis products without in-person interaction or direct communication with the patient may give rise to additional challenges which must be addressed appropriately in the interest of patient safety.
Ahpra and National Boards are working with other regulators to understand prescribing and dispensing patterns. We may investigate practitioners’ practice even if we have not received a complaint.
The guidance on the supply of prescribed medicinal cannabis is published on the Pharmacy Board’s Codes, guidelines and policies page.
Ahpra and the National Boards have also published guidance on the prescribing of medicinal cannabis on the Ahpra website.
The annual World Pharmacists Day on 25 September has the theme of ‘Think Health, Think Pharmacist’. This day highlights the important role pharmacists play in improving the health of people across Australia and the world. We thank all pharmacists across Australia for the essential work you do.
Read our news item about World Pharmacists Day.
We have engaged the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) to develop a Pharmacist Capability Framework on our behalf. It will be used by us for our regulatory functions including registering pharmacists and by APC for accreditation purposes.
The Board's Pharmacist Capability Framework (the framework) will describe the entry-to-practice capabilities of a newly registered pharmacist and underpin the future education of pharmacists, ensuring they can adapt to a changing environment.
APC is providing a range of feedback opportunities as part of public consultation on the framework including face-to-face forums. The EOI process to participate in the public forums is open and will close on Friday 26 September 2025. More information is available on the APC website, along with the link to register your interest.
The Board’s latest quarterly registration data report covers the period to 30 June 2025. At this date there were 40,913 registered pharmacists, including:
There are 123 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.
The first step in applying for registration is to create your Ahpra portal and link multifactor authentication. Your portal is where you will manage all aspects of your registration throughout your career as a registered pharmacist.
We have an online portal help centre with step-by-step instructions and videos on how to create your portal and securely link your multifactor authentication app.
On the Graduate applications page of the Ahpra website, you will find helpful guides on completing your application for registration, tips for how to avoid delays, and information flyers you can download for working offline. There is also a page of frequently asked questions that go into more detail on a range of topics.
You may need to provide supporting documents with your application to prove that you meet the Board’s registration standards including meeting the English language skills requirements. Make sure you provide all the documents we need with your application so we can assess it quicker.
We can’t finalise your application until we receive your graduation results from your education provider.
If you’ve submitted everything needed to prove you’ve met the requirements for registration, we aim to finalise your application within two weeks of receiving your graduation results.
For more information, read the news item.
Medicine shortages occur in practice, which may require you to provide advice about alternative medicines and/or arrange supply of alternative medicines. To support good patient care, you may be able to access alternative medicines using section 19A and Serious Scarcity Substitution Instruments (SSSIs) or you may need to contact the patient’s prescriber to arrange a prescription for an alternative medicine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has published information on its website to help you manage medicine shortages. TGA’s medicine shortage reports database includes information about shortages of reportable medicines in Australia, including those arising from the discontinuation of products. The database includes information on management actions including supply of overseas alternative medicines.
The TGA also publishes information about major medicine shortages that includes key information about the shortage for patients, carers and health care professionals. An example is the webpage about the shortage of methylphenidate hydrochloride products. This webpage includes information for pharmacists as well as prescribers such as clinical guidance on switching medications and starting new medications.
Pharmacy premises are regulated by state and territory pharmacy premises authorities. These authorities administer state or territory legislation and may develop guidelines on pharmacy premises and ownership.
The Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council (the council) is a new statutory body established under the Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2024 (PBO Act) to regulate pharmacy business ownership in Queensland.
The PBO Act is being rolled out in stages to support implementation. When it takes effect in full, expected in November 2025, the PBO Act will:
The council is holding a webinar on 14 October 2025 7pm AEST to help pharmacy business owners and interested stakeholders to understand the requirements of the PBO Act, including the process for applying for a pharmacy business licence. Register on the council’s webpage.
For further information about the PBO Act and the council go to Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council. You can also subscribe to receive updates from the council.
This year, when you receive an email about renewing your registration, things will look different. Ahpra has a new online portal with multifactor authentication (MFA) to manage all aspects of your registration.
Multifactor authentication is an extra layer of security used to protect your data.
Before you renew, you will need to link an authenticator app to your portal. This app generates a one-time 6-digit code and is more secure than sending the code by SMS. Every time you log in, you’ll enter:
If you already know your username and password, you can log in now and link MFA. If you’re not sure what your username is, you can wait until you receive the email reminding you to renew registration, which will include your username. If you share your email account with someone else, such as your partner, or use a group email such as ‘[email protected]’ then you will need to change it to an email that is unique to you when you first log in. There’s information available on the Ahpra portal help centre on how to do this.
Here is where you can find more help about logging in to your portal and linking MFA:
If you get stuck, try the troubleshooting tips, or use the portal help centre chatbot. You can also contact Ahpra’s customer service team.
A 30 per cent rebate on annual renewal fees is now available for health practitioners who take parental leave and other forms of protected leave, while a wider review of fee policies continues.
This action aims to provide financial relief for practitioners taking parental leave and other forms of protected leave such as disability and carer’s leave.
It is one step in a range of measures Ahpra and the National Boards are introducing to make registration fees more equitable, flexible and responsive.
The rebate applies to practitioners who take leave for at least six continuous months on the grounds of a protected attribute. A practitioner can claim the rebate at the next renewal after the six-month period of leave ends. Practitioners cannot apply for this rebate before the six-month period has started, or before it ends.
A wider review is currently looking at how a pro rata approach to fees can be implemented. It is expected to report by November 2025 with recommendations aimed at coming into effect by 1 July 2026.
Visit the Fee relief for parental leave and other types of leave webpage for more information and to read the full policy.
Receipts or tax invoices for payments made in the 2024–25 financial year will be emailed to you directly – they won’t be available in the Ahpra portal.
You’ll receive your receipt or tax invoice shortly after your payment via email.
We’ll email your receipt or tax invoice from mid-June 2025. Be sure to check both your inbox and spam/junk folder.
If you haven’t received it by mid-July, please submit an online enquiry, and let us know you need a receipt or tax invoice for the 2024–25 financial year.
For payments made before July 2024, please submit an online enquiry and specify which financial year(s) you need. We’ll email the relevant documents once we receive your request.
New resources are now available to help practitioners understand and adapt to changes to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, which will come into effect over the next 12 months. Information on the changes, how they will be implemented and what they mean for practitioners and the public is available in the full information guide, while the two-page short guide provides a high-level snapshot of the changes.
Both guides are available on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website which includes links to related topics and will be updated as our implementation activities progress.
The changes to the National Law were passed earlier this year, focusing on:
Australians undergoing cosmetic procedures such as anti-wrinkle injections and fillers will have greater protections under sweeping guidelines being introduced across the booming billion-dollar industry.
Ahpra and the National Boards have published Guidelines for practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures and Guidelines for practitioners who advertise higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which came into effect on 2 September 2025 to strengthen safeguards across the industry.
The new protections highlight that many practitioners need more than just the foundational qualifications included in their initial training before they can safely perform non-surgical procedures like cosmetic injections. Further training or education will be necessary for those practitioners wanting to expand their scope of practice.
While cosmetic procedures remain out of scope for many practitioners, the guidelines will now apply to all regulated professions, futureproofing those that may join the cosmetic industry.
Learn more about the new cosmetic procedure practice and advertising guidelines.
Ahpra and the National Scheme have announced their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy, informed by extensive consultation and the expertise of Professor Yin Paradies, a leading scholar in racism and cultural safety.
This policy has been developed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to create a safe, valued, and respectful environment within Ahpra and the National Boards.
It forms a critical step in enacting Ahpra and the National Scheme’s policy and legislative commitments to eliminating racism.
Racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is persistent, harmful, and structurally embedded. This policy acknowledges those realities and provides clear mechanisms for preventing, addressing, and eliminating racism within Ahpra, the National Boards and committees. It establishes stronger reporting pathways and introduces the Racism-related Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-only Special Issues Committee (RATSISIC) to ensure culturally informed responses to racism.
The policy reflects the hard work and leadership of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy Working Group, chaired by Professor Carmen Parter, whose contributions were vital to its development.
Download a copy of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy. You'll find this on the Information Publication Scheme page under 'Ahpra, Ahpra Board and National Boards information', click on the Ahpra tab.
