Pharmacists Act Review, 2004
A review of the Pharmacists Act 1974 and its associated Regulations was completed in 2004. The three key purposes of this review were:
- To ensure that Victoria me t its National Competition Policy (NCP) obligations by assessing all restrictions on competition contained in the Act and Regulations and removing those that could not be shown to provide a net public benefit.
- To update the Pharmacists Act to make it consistent with the Victorian model provisions for health practitioner regulation. (click through to 5.5.1)
- To canvass stakeholder views on evolving issues relevant to pharmacy services, such as potential strategies for improving access to pharmacy services in rural and regional Victoria.
The Pharmacists Act 1974 was the last of the Victorian health practitioner registration Acts to be subject to NCP reform. A Victorian NCP review was commenced in 1997, but was put on hold in 1998 when all Australian jurisdictions agreed to a National Review as a means of promoting a consistent approach to regulation of the profession of pharmacy and dealing with the complex issues of regulation of ownership.
A discussion paper was released in August 2002 and was followed by wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders. The Pharmacy Practice Act 2004 was passed by the Victorian Parliament in the Spring 2004 Parliamentary Sittings and came into operation on 1 July 2005. It has since been repealed by the Health Professions Registration Act 2005, however the key reforms introduced by the Pharmacy Practice Act 2004 in respect of the ownership and operation of pharmacy businesses have been retained in that Act.Download the Discussion Paper (PDF File 1.31MB)
The links below provide information relating to the review:
Pharmacists Act 1974 (This will take you to the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Home Page)
National Competition Policy Review of Pharmacy Final Report (This will take you to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care Web site)
COAG Senior Officials Working Group Response to the National Review (PDF File 372KB) - from the Commonwealth Government Website