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These consultations are now closed. Information is provided for transparency and reference only.
Consultation papers are available upon request.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia engaged us to develop accreditation standards for pharmacist prescriber training programs.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia has undertaken extensive work to investigate the capacity for competent and safe prescribing by pharmacists. They issued a statement on this work in 2019.
The development of accreditation standards have been informed by the NPS Prescribing Competencies Framework (2021) which describes the expectations for all health professional prescribers.
The standards for training programs for pharmacist prescribers will equip pharmacists with the knowledge, skills and attributes to be competent and safe prescribers within their scope of practice as authorised under relevant legislation.
Our approach to developing accreditation standards is always robust, transparent, and consultative. This work followed our usual processes for developing accreditation standards.
Under the guidance of Governance and Stakeholder Reference Groups, we developed a set of Accreditation Standards including a Performance Outcomes Framework and an Evidence Guide for education providers.
We also established an accreditation system to accredit education programs similar to how we accredit pharmacy degree programs or intern training programs.
A governance group, chaired by Associate Professor Sue Kirsa oversaw the work. A stakeholder reference group, chaired by Professor Lisa Nissen, informed and advised on development of the standards.
We engaged a subject matter expert pharmacist. They undertook a literature review, environmental scan and competency mapping of pharmacist prescribing internationally and in Australia.
We consulted with key stakeholders to help us develop:
Our stakeholders included:
We gathered feedback from our stakeholders through methods including:
We received feedback from more than 179 people during the first consultation period, which included input from 53 forum attendees, 103 survey responses, 9 written submissions, and 14 one-on-one interviews.
We received feedback from 90 stakeholders during the second consultation period, which included input from 67 forum attendees, 18 survey responses, and 5 written submissions.
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A/Prof Sue Kirsa, APC Chair |
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Prof Lisa Nissen, Stakeholder Reference Group Chair |
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Emeritus Prof Nicholas Glasgow, APC Board Member (Medical practitioner) |
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Prof Rhonda Clifford, APC Board Member |
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A/Prof Kirstie Galbraith, APC Board Member |
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Prof Nick Shaw, APC Accreditation Commitee Chair |
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Mr Brett Simmonds, Pharmacy Board of Australia Chair |
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Ms Bronwyn Clark, APC Chief Executive Officer |
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Prof Lisa Nissen |
Stakeholder Reference Group Chair HERA Program Director Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, University of Queensland |
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Dr Amy Page |
Pharmacy Board of Australia practitioner member |
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Dr Sue Martin |
Pharmacy Board of Australia community member |
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Dr David Newby |
Council of Pharmacy Schools (CPS) |
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A/Prof Andrew Hale |
Council of Pharmacy Schools (CPS) |
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Ms Suzanna Nash |
Australasian College of Pharmacy (ACP) |
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Mr Mike Stephens |
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (NACCHO) |
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Ms Kerri Barwick |
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) |
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Ms Zoe Girdis |
Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) |
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Ms Kylee Hayward |
Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) |
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Mr Flynn Swift |
National Association of Pharmacy Students Australia (NAPSA) |
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Mr Gary West |
Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) |
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Mr Peter Grimmer |
Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand (OCANZ) |
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Ms Pauline McQuoid |
Medwise, New Zealand |
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Prof Sharon Bentley |
Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health and Director, Centre for Vision & Eye Research Queensland University of Technology |
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A/Prof Bhavini Patel |
Executive Director Medicines Management, NT Health |
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Ms Sok Leng Cam |
Practising pharmacist |
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Ms Sara McCarthy |
Practising pharmacist |
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Ms Bree Armstrong |
Practising pharmacist |
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Mr Sean Mutchmor |
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) representative |
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Ms Patrice Harald |
First Nations person and consumer representative |
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Ms Dani Brown |
Consumer representative |
Project team:
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Ms Bronwyn Clark |
APC CEO |
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Ms Glenys Wilkinson |
APC Deputy CEO |
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Ms Claire Bekema |
APC Director Standards Development |
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Ms Kate Spencer |
APC Director Accreditation and Assessments |
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Ms Tiara Miller |
APC Administrative Support Officer |
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Dr Lynda Cardiff |
SME consultant |
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Dr Karen Bettenay |
SME consultant |
In 2018/19 we reviewed the accreditation standards for degree and intern training programs in Australia and New Zealand. We use these standards to assess programs in Australia and internationally.
We sought feedback from stakeholders to help us support quality pharmacy education.
In October 2022, the accreditation standards were updated mid-cycle to remove references to New Zealand. This follows the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand's decision in 2021 to accredit New Zealand pharmacy programs directly, against their own New Zealand accreditation standards.
The following is the process and outcome for the previous Accreditation Standards for Pharmacy Programs 2020.
A governance group, chaired by Associate Professor Sue Kirsa managed the work. A stakeholder reference group, chaired by Professor Debra Rowett, informed the new standards.
We engaged a subject matter expert pharmacist. They undertook a literature review of current and emerging issues in accreditation standards.
We consulted with key stakeholders to help us develop:
Our stakeholders included:
We gathered feedback from our stakeholders through methods including:
We held a total of six consultation and workshop sessions.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia approved our standards in 2019. They have been in place since 1 January 2020.
We are grateful for the valuable contribution from all our stakeholders. Their feedback has helped us produce standards that ensure competent pharmacy graduates in Australia and New Zealand.
Consultation papers available upon request.
Health Profession Accreditation Practices International Literature Review
Throughout consultations we referred to the superseded standards including:
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Governance Committee members |
Reference Group members |
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A/Prof Sue Kirsa, APC Chair |
Identified positions: |
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Prof Debra Rowett, Reference Group Chair |
Prof Debra Rowett, Reference Group Chair |
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Dr Jeff Harrison, PCNZ Nominee |
Ms Leanne Te Karu, PCNZ Nominee |
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Prof Nick Shaw, APC Accreditation Committee Chair |
Ms Jessica Hsiao, NAPSA President |
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Dr Erica Sainsbury, SME Consultant Pharmacist |
Mr Allan Groth, IAHA Chief Operating Officer |
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Ms Bronwyn Clark, APC Chief Executive Officer |
Dr Fiona Tito Wheatland, Consumer representative |
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Ms Glenys Wilkinson, APC Executive Director Professional Services |
Invitation positions: |
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Ms Kate Spencer, APC Senior Pharmacist Accreditation |
Ms Maja Ajdukovic, PGA representative |
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Mr Robert Hale, APC Accreditation Standards Consultant |
Mr Bob Buckham, PSA representative |
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Mr Dan Guidone, SHPA representative |
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Expression of interest application positions: |
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Prof Parisa Aslani, USyd |
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Prof Ieva Stupans, RMIT |
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Dr Cherie Lucas, UTS |
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Prof Carl Kirkpatrick, Monash University |
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Ms Tracy Routledge, PSA ITP |
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Mr Vaughn Eaton, SA Pharmacy |
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Ms Heather Volk, NTPHN |
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Dr Marg Gatling, ANMAC |