MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 21 March 2022

While welcoming the recent comments of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) that pharmacist wages and conditions needed to improve, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) said that real and practical action was desperately needed to do so.

PPA’s CEO Jill McCabe said that while much good will existed toward the nation’s pharmacists for their incredible skills and contribution to health care during the pandemic, real action was required to actually lift community pharmacy wages and conditions.

“While we wholeheartedly welcome the advocacy from the PSA to improve pharmacists’ wages and conditions, we call on them and the Pharmacy Guild to actively support PPA’s submissions to the Fair Work Commission to achieve these goals.

“Shortly, the Fair Work Commission will undertake a Graduate Pay Review, and it is critical that the PSA and the Guild support our submission for pay increases for graduates.

“We all know that the current pharmacist wage structure is broken and does not support career progression, resulting in thousands of skilled pharmacists leaving the profession at a time we need them most.

“We call on the PSA and Guild to support a new wage structure that provides sustainable career progression and associated pay increases, so that we can keep experienced pharmacists in our sector over the long term.

Ms McCabe also said that PPA’s Community and Hospital Pharmacist Remuneration Report found that enterprise bargaining agreements consistently delivered higher wages and better conditions for pharmacists. “The evidence is clear that enterprise bargaining agreements consistently deliver better wages and conditions for pharmacists, and we look forward to the PSA and Guild also supporting the uptake of enterprise bargaining agreements across community pharmacy in the future.”

Media Contact: Darren Rodrigo 0414 783 405