Development of Accreditation Standards for education programs for Aged Care and MMR pharmacists

The Department of Health and Aged Care has engaged the Australian Pharmacy Council (APC) to develop accreditation standards and an accreditation system to provide oversight and quality assurance of training programs that would credential pharmacists to undertake the role of an aged care on-site pharmacist and conduct medication management reviews. 

APC is the independent accreditation authority for pharmacy education and training in Australia. Our work protects public health by setting and maintaining high standards of pharmacy education. 

We have played a role in the quality assurance of pharmacist education in Australia for over 40 years. We have a well-established process and take a robust, transparent and collaborative approach to development and review of our standards.

We have established an Expert Advisory Group, chaired by Professor Debra Rowett, to provide input and guidance on the development of:

• a set of accreditation standards
• a performance outcome framework
• an evidence guide for education providers.

We will be consulting on the draft standards and supporting documents in April 2023. We will also be hosting a stakeholder forum to ensure all interested stakeholders have an opportunity to inform and comment on the standards.

It is anticipated that the standards will be published by June 2023, and supporting documents will be available in July 2023.