Employment Expectations Report
2 Apr, 2014
Executive summary
Community pharmacy is Australia’s most accessible and frequently used health care
destination. Every year, there are around 300 million pharmacy visits with about 65,000 trained
professionals supplying medicines and providing a wide range of patient care services, support
and advice.
As the Government reduces PBS prices for off-patent medicines through price disclosure,
pharmacies are directly impacted through reduced government funding for mark-up and the loss
of trading terms. This has been exacerbated by Simplified Price Disclosure, announced on the
eve of the last Federal election, without any consultation or recognition of its flow-on impact on
pharmacy remuneration.
The Guild estimates that pharmacy gross profits will fall by an average of $90,000 in 2014-15
due to price disclosure. As a result, many pharmacies are being forced to reduce staff to remain
viable. This is not only affecting hard-working pharmacy professionals, but also importantly the
patients they serve.