Please note: The information on this page may no longer be current and is only included here for historical reference.
Current information is maintained on the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement page.
Review of Pharmacy Remuneration and Regulation
Information for pharmacists, including more detailed information on the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Collection of PBS Under Copayment data
Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement
Community Pharmacy Service Charter
Services for consumers
Home Medicines Review
Residential Medication Management Review
MedsCheck (Medicines Use Reviews)
Diabetes MedsCheck (Diabetes Medication Management Service)
Pharmacy Practice Incentives
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program
Rural Programs
Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance
QUMAX
Section 100 Pharmacy Support Allowance
Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement
Changes to administrative arrangements for Sixth Agreement programsFrom 1 February 2019 Australian Healthcare Associates assumed responsibility for administration of the pharmacy programs under the banner of Pharmacy Programs Administrator. From 1 March 2014 to 31 January 2019 the Pharmacy Guild of Australia administered the pharmacy programs.
Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement
The Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement (6CPA) between the Commonwealth and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia commenced on 1 July 2015 and expires on 30 June 2020.
The 6CPA provides for up to $18.9 billion in total remuneration for community pharmacy and the PBS supply chain including:
- community pharmacy remuneration, which includes dispensing fees;
- the Community Service Obligation funding for pharmaceutical wholesalers for the PBS; and
- Community Pharmacy Programs with a primary focus on assisting patients to better manage their medications and conditions.
Community Pharmacy Service Charter
PDF printable version to Charter brochure (PDF 672 KB)PDF printable version to Charter poster (PDF 150 KB)
HTML version of the Charter
The Community Pharmacy Service Charter (the Charter), has been developed to assist consumers receive safe and effective healthcare through their community pharmacy. Pharmacies that display the Charter uphold the following standards:
Access
You have the right to health care and will be provided with medicines and pharmacy related services and products to address your health care needs.
Safety
You have the right to receive safe and high quality care. You will be provided with safe and effective medicines, and high quality pharmacy related services, with professional care, skill and competence.
Respect
You have the right to be shown respect, dignity and consideration. In receiving services, you and your culture, beliefs, values and personal characteristics will be respected as will those of your carer and advocate.
Communication
You have the right to be informed about services, treatment, options and costs in a clear and open way. You will be provided with open, timely and appropriate communication about your health, medicines and related services and products in a way you can understand.
Participation
You have the right to be included in decisions and choices about your care. You will be included in making decisions and choices about your health, medicines and related services and products.
Privacy
You have the right to privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. Unless you otherwise consent, your personal privacy will be maintained, and your personal health and other information will be properly handled. A private area will be available to discuss your needs.
Comment
You have the right to comment on your care and to have your concerns addressed. Your comments or concerns about medicines or other services offered will be promptly addressed. You can give comments in a number of ways, either directly to your pharmacy, to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, or to your state or territory health complaints commission.
Services for consumers
The Sixth Agreement will provide community pharmacies and pharmacists with funding to deliver professional programs and services over the life of the Agreement of around $663 million. Programs under the Sixth Agreement include the continuation and revision of some existing professional services and also a range of new services. The programs and services for consumers are:Home Medicines Review
A Home Medicines Review will help consumers, in particular, for consumers with multiple health conditions or who are taking multiple medications, to manage their medicines at home. The GP determines that a HMR will benefit the consumer and gives a referral to the community pharmacy or accredited pharmacist of the consumer’s choice. The pharmacist has specialist training to conduct HMRs. The pharmacist then talks with the consumer in their home and provides a written report back to their GP and if appropriate, the consumer’s community pharmacy.How do they help you?
A Home Medicines Review will help consumers use their medicines effectively and avoid any unwanted side effects they may be having, helping consumers get the most out of their medicines.
Residential Medication Management Review
The Residential Medication Management Review (RMMR) program funds approved, accredited pharmacists to conduct medication reviews for permanent residents of Australian Government funded residential aged care facilities. The program aims to enhance the quality use of medicines and reduce the risk of adverse medicines events by assisting aged care residents and their carers with their medication.MedsCheck (Medicines Use Review)
MedsCheck is a new program under the Sixth Agreement. This service involves a structured in-pharmacy review of a consumer’s medicines by a pharmacist, with a focus on education and self-management. The MedsCheck service must take place in a private consultation area of a community pharmacy and should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. This service, which commenced in July 2012 aims to:- help consumers learn more about their medicines including how medicines affect medical conditions;
- identify problems that a consumer may be experiencing with their medicines;
- improve the quality use of medicines by consumers; and
- educate consumers about how to best use and store their medicines.
Diabetes MedsCheck (Diabetes Medication Management Service)
The Diabetes MedsCheck service is a new programme under the Sixth Agreement. The service provides a review of a consumer’s medicines by a pharmacist, with a focus on the consumer’s type 2 diabetes medicines management, monitoring devices, education and self- management. The Diabetes MedsCheck service must take place in a private consultation area of a community pharmacy and should take approximately 45 minutes to complete.The Diabetes Medscheck aims to improve the health outcomes of people living with Type 2 Diabetes through improved medication management by:
- helping a consumers better understand their diabetes medication therapy and making sure they are correctly taking their medicines;
- making sure a consumer is using their blood glucose monitoring device correctly and helping educate them;
- improving blood glucose control; and
- reducing the risk of developing complications associated with Type 2 Diabetes.
Pharmacy Practice Incentives
The Pharmacy Practice Incentive (PPI) Programme has six priority areas which recognise the beneficial health outcomes that can be achieved through the delivery of quality Services to an agreed standard in Community Pharmacy. This includes:Dose Administration Aids
Dose Administration Aids (DAAs) are packs that contain your medicines stored together and grouped to be taken at specific times. A DAA can help you better manage your medicines and reduce the risk of forgetting to take a medicine, or taking too much.
Clinical Interventions
This program will support pharmacists to help identify and manage medicine-related problems. It may be as part of dispensing a consumer's prescription that the pharmacist identifies a need to discuss the medicines with the consumer and or GP and take some action. Through Clinical Interventions, pharmacists aim to identify a drug related problem relating to a consumer’s medicines and make a recommendation to help resolve it and improve health outcomes;
Staged Supply Support Allowance
In some cases it may be worthwhile for consumers to collect their medicines in stages rather than all at once. Under this program, pharmacies are encouraged to dispense PBS medicines in installments, this may be daily, weekly, fortnightly. A request for staged supply of medicines is usually provided by a doctor, but can be initiated by the consumer. In particular it may assist patients with mental illness, drug addiction or who are otherwise unable to manage medications safely.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs
The Sixth Agreement continues to focus on programs such as scholarships and traineeships that provide access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in remote, rural and urban settings. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Workforce Program focuses on strengthening and supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy workforce, which in turn will provide improved, culturally appropriate, pharmacy services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Rural Programs
A number of activities under the Sixth Agreement are targeted at supporting better access to community pharmacy in non-urban areas. This includes activities to train and retain pharmacists (and students studying to become pharmacists), and pharmacy workers. In addition, there is assistance to ensure communities have ready access to a community pharmacy, such as support for emergency locums.Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance
The Rural Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance (RPMA) recognises the additional financial burden of maintaining a pharmacy in rural and remote areas of Australia. The monthly allowance is paid to eligible proprietors of pharmacies approved under section 90 of the National Health Act 1953.The amount of the allowance ranges from approximately $5,000 to over $45,000 per annum. The allowance is calculated annually, based on the remoteness of the pharmacy according to the Pharmacy Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia (PhARIA), and the level of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) prescription volumes. Pharmacies with low prescriptions volumes in more remote areas receive the highest level of the allowance.
Eligibility for the RPMA is capped in relation to PBS and RPBS prescriptions volume.
Following the update to PhARIA on 1 July 2012, the Department and the Guild will continue to monitor the impact of the changes to the RPMA eligibility.
Further information on the RPMA is available on the Pharmacy Programs Administrator website.
QUMAX
The Quality Use of Medicines Maximised for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (QUMAX) Program is a support initiative that aims to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, of any age, at participating Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS). The focus of the QUMAX Program is to improve Quality Use of Medicines through a range of support services provided by participating ACCHS and community pharmacies in rural and urban Australia.These support services include:
- Dose Administration Aids (DAAs) arrangements with participating community pharmacies;
- Pharmacy support - in areas such as QUM planning, policies, protocol development, medicine quality assurance and appropriate Safety Net utilisation;
- Reducing the cultural and logistical barriers to access HMRs by ACCHS clients;
- QUM devices - eg asthma and diabetes;
- Education and training for ACCHS employees;
- Cultural awareness training for community pharmacists and other community pharmacy staff;
- Transport support – to access medicines and community pharmacy services.