Codes, Guidelines and Policies

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has developed codes, guidelines and policies to provide guidance to the profession. These also help to clarify the Board’s views and expectations on a range of issues.

Codes and guidelines are approved by the National Board and may be used as evidence of what constitutes appropriate professional conduct or practice for pharmacy in proceedings under the National Law or a law of a co-regulatory jurisdiction against a health practitioner.

Quick reference guide

For ease of reference, the Board has published a quick reference guide to its guidelines, to help pharmacists identify the appropriate document to read.

Codes

Document	PDF	Date of effect
Code of conduct	Code of conduct (PDF 323KB)	29 June 2022

Guides

Document	Date of effect
Social media: How to meet your obligations under the National Law	11 November 2019

Guidelines

PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Guideline - Informing a National Board about where you practise (PDF 152KB)	Guideline - Informing a National Board about where you practise (DOCX 590KB)	1 August 2018
Guidelines on compounding of medicines (PDF 493 KB)	Guidelines on compounding of medicines (DOCX 462 KB)	1 October 2024
Background on the regulation of the supply and manufacture of medicines including medicines compounded by pharmacists (PDF 58KB)	Background on the regulation of the supply and manufacture of medicines including medicines compounded by pharmacists (DOCX 366KB)	-
Consumer fact sheet (PDF 184KB)	Consumer fact sheet (DOCX 192KB)	-
Joint statement on compounded medicines – Pharmacy Board of Australia and Medical Board of Australia (PDF 77KB)	Joint statement on compounded medicines – Pharmacy Board of Australia and Medical Board of Australia (DOCX 695KB)	24 November 2017 Amended 14 October 2024
Guidelines on continuing professional development (PDF 100KB)	Guidelines on continuing professional development (DOCX 41KB)	1 December 2015
Guidelines for dispensing of medicines (PDF 114KB)	Guidelines for dispensing of medicines (DOCX 388KB)	7 December 2015 Updated on 15 March 2023 to include changes to the qualifications and competencies published by the Board in Guideline 12.1 which outlines options for ensuring the competence of dispensary assistants, dispensary technicians or hospital pharmacy technicians.
Guidelines on practice-specific issues (PDF 59.5KB)	Guidelines on practice-specific issues (DOCX 370KB)	7 December 2015
Guidelines on practice-specific issues - Guideline 1 (List of reference texts for pharmacists) (PDF 49KB)	Guidelines on practice-specific issues - Guideline 1 (List of reference texts for pharmacists) DOCX 363KB)	7 December 2015 Amended on 16 September 2015 Updated on 15 March 2023 to include changes to the titles of currently available reference texts. Amended on 16 May 2023 Amended on 18 August 2023
Guidelines for proprietor pharmacists (PDF 52KB)	Guidelines for proprietor pharmacists (DOCX 367KB)	7 December 2015
Guidelines on dose administration aids and staged supply of dispensed medicines (PDF 74KB)	Guidelines on dose administration aids and staged supply of dispensed medicines (DOCX 374KB)	7 December 2015
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners (PDF 250KB)	Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners	1 March 2020 Updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and changes to the flowcharts on pages 20, 22 and 26 of the guidelines.
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students (PDF 250KB)	Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students	1 March 2020 Updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and sections 39 and 40 of the National Law in Appendix A.
Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service (PDF 192KB)	Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service	14 December 2020

Position statements

PDF	Accessible format	Document date
Joint statement on professional responsibilities for prescribing and dispensing medicines (PDF 354KB)	Joint statement on professional responsibilities for prescribing and dispensing medicines	3 June 2024 Updated on 14 October 2024 to include minor changes to align with the revised Guidelines on compounding of medicines that came into effect on 1 October 2024.
No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare (PDF 205KB)	No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare (DOCX 120KB)	30 June 2021

PDF

Accessible format

Document date

Joint statement on professional responsibilities for prescribing and dispensing medicines (PDF 354KB)

Joint statement on professional responsibilities for prescribing and dispensing medicines

3 June 2024

Updated on 14 October 2024 to include minor changes to align with the revised Guidelines on compounding of medicines that came into effect on 1 October 2024.

No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare (PDF 205KB)

No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare (DOCX 120KB)

30 June 2021

Policies

PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Common Protocol - Informing notifiers about the reasons for National Board decisions (PDF 91KB)	Common Protocol - Informing notifiers about the reasons for National Board decisions (DOCX 56KB)	1 August 2018

Policy directions

Under Section 11 of the National Law, as in force in each state and territory, the Ministerial Council may issue a National Board with policy directions.

Document	Date of effect
COAG Health Council Communique on policy direction 03 January 2020 (PDF 2.34MB)	8 January 2020

Retired Codes and Guidelines

For codes and guidelines that no longer apply, please see Retired Codes and Guidelines.

FAQ and Fact Sheets

For more information, please see FAQ and Fact Sheets.