Your PPA Committee

Professional Pharmacists Australia – your voice in the workplace

Your Professional Pharmacists Australia Committee

Professional Pharmacists Australia is run by a committee of elected pharmacists and pharmacy technicians for the benefit of non-owner community and hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Get to know your PPA Committee here!

	Leon Yap President, Professional Pharmacists Australia Pharmacist Hi and welcome to Professional Pharmacists Australia! I’ve been a dedicated union member for almost 10 years, PPA Treasurer for the last 3 years and now I am honoured and excited to step into the position of Pharmacy committee President. I have over 20 years of experience working in both domestic and international community and hospital pharmacy, and extensive experience advocating for my passion – bettering the pay and working conditions of pharmacists across Australia. During my time working in PPA, our Pharmacy Division has grown significantly. I am proud to have contributed to our growth by; successfully arguing for enhancements to the Pharmacy Award, negotiating several Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBA's) with community and private hospital groups, introducing Professional Indemnity Insurance cover and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for our members, and extending coverage to Pharmacy Technicians for the first time. I commit to my pharmacy colleagues to use my platform to further drive improvements to both remuneration and conditions for PPA members, starting with the Graduate Pay Campaign, where we will be arguing for a pay increase for Pharmacist Graduates at the Fair Work Commission.
	Bianca Piljic Vice President, Professional Pharmacists Australia Vice President, Professionals Australia Clinical Pharmacist Hello! I am pleased to introduce myself to you as your National Vice President of both the union parent body, Professionals Australia as well as the Pharmacist division. I am a Clinical Pharmacist and as well as holding many Australian post-graduate qualifications, I am also a Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP) with extensive experience in Digital Hospital, being one of the first pharmacists in Australia to practice within a closed-loop system. By day, I work as a Clinical Pharmacist. I have a special interest in HIV management in our ageing population as well as services to the ageing LGBTQIA community. In my “spare time”, I’m a member of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacists and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. I also perform Home Medication Reviews as well as education for both nursing staff and other allied health practitioners. I’ve been a member of the PPA committee since 2018, and have been a key team member in the evolution of PPA being a more dynamic and progressive organisation as well as pursuing pharmacist and technician engagement utilising technology beyond the boundaries restricting union activity.
	Riccardo Seeber Committee Member, Professional Pharmacists Australia Pharmacist Hello, I am Riccardo. I have been a community pharmacist since 2010 and worked across a spectrum of community pharmacies. I have an interest in public health workforce policy and am completing a master’s in public health. As a member I offer my perspectives and insights drawing from my experiences in pharmacy, studies in public health and interactions with my peers and colleagues. My advocacy priorities are focused around balanced, efficient, and safe workloads. I believe if we can meet the needs of our workforce, then we can then better serve the community.
	Jennifer Madden Secretary, Professional Pharmacists Australia Pharmacist I have practiced in pharmacy for more than 50 years and as an accredited pharmacist for 23 years. I have been a member Professionals Australia in our Pharmacy Divisions for more than 20 years. Over my career, I have worked in most areas of Pharmacy - retail, hospital, academia and military. I have been a tutor to interns, provided CPE modules with PSA, and more recently have acted as a mentor to pharmacists seeking accreditation for Medication Review services.
	Katerina Malakozis Committee Member, Professional Pharmacists Australia Hi, my name is Kathy Malakozis and I’m a community pharmacist from Adelaide. I’ve worked for National Pharmacies (Friendly Society) in Adelaide for over 30 years, most of these years as a Pharmacist in Charge. I now work part time and I’m a vaccinating pharmacist for much of my work time. I’ve been involved in many Enterprise Agreement negotiations over the years along with APESMA, now PPA, and we have built on each EA to improve wages and conditions every time. It is definitely the way to be better remunerated and now that vaccinations are at the forefront of our work practice, we can incorporate this specialised service in our Enterprise Agreement. I’m proud to work as a community pharmacist and proud to be a long serving Union member and honorary officer.
	Carmel McCallum Committee Member, Professional Pharmacists Australia I have been a member of the Committee of Management of Professional Pharmacists Australia for over a decade and as Vice-President for most of that time. During this time, I have represented our union at the Australian Pharmacy Leaders (previously Liaison) Forum and have played a role in the Work Value Case with the Fair Work Commission. I was a pharmacy owner for nine years- 1980-1988. I will continue to work towards pharmacists having a bigger role in improving Australians’ health outcomes, with greater remuneration, recognition, and more opportunities for promotion and contribution to professional community healthcare services.
	Cardin Le Committee Member, Professional Pharmacists Australia Cardin Le works as a senior community pharmacist and strongly believes in the Australian value of a fair go. Fair go for both employee pharmacists and pharmacy owners, a give and take and respectful relationship. He is also a member of the Pharmacist Support Services who work on the principle of pharmacists supporting pharmacists via telephone counselling. In addition, Cardin has been a keen supporter of many charitable organisations such as Can Assist which provides cancer assistance for country NSW, through financial assistance, practical support and raising awareness.
	Rohit Lal Committee Member, Professional Pharmacists Australia Hi, My name is Rohit Lal and I am a Community Pharmacist in Victoria. I have been working in community pharmacy for over four years and am excited to join the Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) union committee that represents employee pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacy. The Pharmacist profession has been through so much in the last few years from the COVID pandemic and ever-changing public health orders, more Pharmacist services being added to already heavy and burdensome workloads, high burn out rates, dispensary staff shortages and the need to keep up with technology advancements. I feel now is a crucial time to advocate with a united voice in the union for better working conditions and remuneration for our professional services.

To find out how you can join the committee, or if you have any queries, simply email us.