Pharmacy body spotlights member priorities for 2025–26 Budget

Advanced Pharmacy Australia’s (AdPha) ‘Federal Pre-Budget Submission 2025–26’ features nine targeted recommendations covering scope of practice, workforce development and sustainability, and medicine access.

AdPha calls for the establishment of a dedicated Medicine Shortages and Discontinuation Clinical Advice Service (MSDCAS), for patient access to life-saving medicines; national equity for patients’ access to medicines through bilateral Pharmaceutical Reform Agreements (PRAs) with New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT); and a Partnered Pharmacist Medication Prescribing (PPMP) collaborative care model pilot in aged care and general practice, to extend the benefits of expanded pharmacist scope.

Scope of practice

AdPha has highlighted the need to remove barriers to full scope of practice, calling on the government to expand the footprint of “the proven and successful” PPMP collaborative care model from hospitals into aged care and general practice settings while also enabling pharmacists to prescribe medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) under PPMP and other collaborative care models. Both initiatives that AdPha President Tom Simpson FANZCAP (Lead&Mgmt) said will improve patient outcomes, save costs and optimise the skills of the primary care workforce.

“PPMP improves timeliness, safety and quality of medicines management for patients, while at the same time supporting capacity for doctors and nurses. Pharmacist prescribing is a natural extension of collaborative care models further facilitating safe and timely access to subsidised medicines,” Simpson said. “With Australia’s ageing population and the increasing complexity of chronic disease management, expanding the PPMP model to aged care and general practice can address critical challenges such as medication-related harm, inappropriate polypharmacy, and provider strain.

“And with most patients receiving PBS-funded medicines at discharge from hospital, we cannot let Australia’s world-leading Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme be a barrier to safe and timely discharge. Extending PBS prescribing to pharmacists working in formal, credentialled collaborative prescribing arrangements will get more Australians home from hospital quicker and with the medicines they need.

“AdPha has long championed PPMP as a proven model that reduces medication errors and patient length of stay. As it expands beyond hospital walls, its positive impact will only continue to grow,” Simpson said. “This recommendation is the essence of advanced pharmacy — taking the evidence-based approach of hospital pharmacy into all areas where medicines are needed to improve the health outcomes of patients everywhere.”

Workforce development and sustainability

Funding to harness the under-utilised skills of pharmacy technicians is also being called for as one of several recommendations to build a stronger and more sustainable pharmacy workforce. “AdPha urges a growth environment for technicians who are integral to interdisciplinary care teams,” Simpson said. “We have recently developed the first Australasian Competency Standards Framework for Technicians working in hospitals and health systems, in order to provide a standardised approach for these crucial health professionals.

“As part of our submission, we are calling on the government to fund technician sector-specific training and resources to ensure this vital area of our workforce is recognised and supported to practice to their full scope, consistently, appropriately and safely.”

Medicine access

In response to medicines access and shortages being ongoing areas of concern, and AdPha’s call on the government to establish agreements with NSW and the ACT to achieve timely and equitable access to the PBS, and a MSDCAS to equip healthcare practitioners with real-time updates, expert guidance and evidence-based solutions, Simpson said that a nationally consistent approach to the PBS is long overdue, while a medicines shortages service will help reduce unnecessary strain placed on already overstretched emergency services and hospital resources.

“For years now, AdPha has been advocating that the Commonwealth extends the same access to the PBS to patients of hospitals in NSW and the ACT as patients in every other Australian jurisdiction,” Simpson said. “Until these PRAs are signed, we can never truly achieve equitable health care and patients continue to miss out.” Simpson continued: “Medicine shortages and discontinuations are also increasingly disrupting patient care across Australia, with clinicians often left to navigate shortages on their own, leading to inconsistent practices that can compromise the safety and continuity of care.

“A centralised service would provide critical advice on safe and effective alternatives for patients, ensuring continuity of care while building resilience against future supply chain disruptions, and negating the need for hospitals to dedicate full-time positions to manage medicines shortages,” Simpson said. “Prioritising this initiative will help safeguard the quality of healthcare delivery, reduce distress for both patients and practitioners, and create a more equitable and efficient healthcare system for all Australians.”

You can read AdPha’s 2025–26 federal pre-Budget submission here.

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