The Department of Health and Aged Care
The Department of Health and Aged Care manages and implements PBS approved supplier policy to improve the health outcomes of all Australians through access to medicines.
Please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web page for further details about PBS Approved Supplier administrative functions and the PBS Approved Suppliers Portal.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is closed from 3:00pm on Friday 22 December 2023 to Monday 1 January 2024 inclusive.
The PBS Approved Suppliers Portal will be available for submission of applications and notifications during the closure period; however, no assessments will be undertaken during this time.Applicants who have been issued with an administration number, and who wish to seek approval before the closure period, must provide any outstanding information to the PBS Approved Suppliers team and request approval no later than 4:00 pm (Canberra time) 21 December 2023.
Applications requiring consideration by the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority
Applications requiring consideration by the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority (Authority) should continue to be submitted in line with the submission dates at www.health.gov.au/acpa, noting that the Authority’s last meeting for the year is scheduled for 6 December 2023. The cut-off date for lodging an application for this meeting is 7 November 2023.
Applicants should note that there is no meeting of the Authority scheduled for January 2024 to account for the Department’s closure period and availability of staff and Authority members in January.
Change of ownership applications and changes of other business details
If you are planning to change ownership or other business details of an approved pharmacy before the end of January 2024, please ensure that your application or request (whichever applies) is submitted as early as possible, noting the department’s closure period, and in addition, that assessments and processing periods may take longer than the usual published timeframes due to staff availability in January.
Changes made by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Mark Butler MP, to the conditions for approved pharmacists, come into effect on 1 June 2023.
The changes provide greater consistency with the National Health Act 1953 regarding the supply of PBS medicines.
The changes will make it a breach of a pharmacist’s conditions of approval where:
The changes also update references to Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s documents.
The amending Determination has been published on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments National Health Legislation Amendment (Conditions of Approval for Approved Pharmacists) Instrument 2023.
Pharmacists are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the amendments.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is closed from 3pm on Thursday 6 April 2022 for the Easter period and will reopen on Tuesday 11 April 2023.
While applicants previously issued with an administration number may request an approval on 6 April 2023, evidence that settlement has occurred and/or the pharmacy is open and trading, must be received by the PBS Approved Suppliers team prior to 2:00pm (Canberra time) on that day.
If you have any questions, please email pbsapprovedsuppliers@health.gov.auand a departmental officer will contact you.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is closed from 3:00pm on Friday 23 December 2022 to Monday 2 January 2023 inclusive.
The PBS Approved Suppliers Portal will be available for submission of applications and notifications during the closure period; however, no assessments will be undertaken during this time.
Applicants who have been issued with an administration number, and who wish to seek approval before the closure period, must provide any outstanding information to the PBS Approved Suppliers team and request approval no later than 4:00 pm (Canberra time) 20 December 2022.
Applications requiring consideration by the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority (Authority) should continue to be submitted in line with the submission dates at www.health.gov.au/acpa, noting that the Authority’s last meeting for the year is scheduled for 9 December 2022. The cut-off date for lodging an application for this meeting is 11 November 2022.
Applicants should note that there is no meeting of the Authority scheduled for January 2023 to account for the Department’s closure period and availability of staff and Authority members in January.
If you are planning to change ownership or other business details of an approved pharmacy between mid December and mid January, please ensure that your application or request (whichever applies) is submitted in time to allow assessment within published timeframes.
Due to renaming of the Department of Health and Aged Care in July 2022, PBS Approved Suppliers PDF application and notification forms have been updated. Changes include an update to the logo on each form, any reference to the department, and minor updates throughout to ensure consistency across all forms. Current forms have been published on the PBS Approved Suppliers Guides and Forms page.
From 1 November 2022, only current approved forms available from our Guides and Forms page will be accepted.
Any application submitted on or after 1 November 2022 must have the new ‘Current owner(s) declaration’ and ‘Appointment of a representative to prepare and submit an application’ form attached. Out of date forms will result in an application being deemed invalid and returned for resubmission.
Any application or notification uploaded on or after 1 November 2022 via the Upload Documents function of the PBS Approved Suppliers Portal must be on the new forms. Out of date PDF forms will be deemed invalid and deactivated. A new submission will be required in order for the form to be processed
The Department of Health and Aged Care is closed from 3pm on Thursday 14 April 2022 for the Easter period, and will reopen on Tuesday 19 April 2022.
While applicants previously issued with an administration number may request an approval on 14 April 2022, evidence that settlement has occurred and/or the pharmacy is open and trading, must be received by the PBS Approved Suppliers team prior to 2:00pm (Canberra time) on that day.
If you have any questions, please email pbsapprovedsuppliers@health.gov.au and a departmental officer will contact you.
If your pharmacy has been affected by the current floods in Queensland and New South Wales resulting in you being unable to trade from your approved pharmacy premises, you may apply for permission from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care to supply PBS medicines at alternative premises for a temporary period.
If you do not intend to, or are unable to, supply from alternative premises, and will instead temporarily close to undertake necessary repairs, you will still need to let the Department of Health and Aged Care know of this as soon as possible. This will allow the Department to deactivate your PBS approval. Information about deactivating a PBS approval.
To apply for permission to supply PBS medicines at alternative premises, or to advise the Department of the temporary closure of your pharmacy, send an email to pbsapprovedsuppliers@health.gov.au to outline the circumstances. The following information is also required if you are applying for permission to supply PBS medicines at alternative premises:
An application should be made within 14 days of the day you commenced operating the pharmacy at the alternative premises.
