The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is the Pharmacy Owners' representative, but not the Pharmacy Profession body.
The 5,700 community pharmacies across Australia provide 450 million individual patient visits annually and employ over 65,000 Pharmacists and Pharmacy Assistants. The vast majority of the 300 million prescriptions dispensed under the Federal Government's subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
A major Guild activity at all levels is close liaison and negotiation with governments, manufacturers, wholesalers and other organisations in the health care delivery system.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia was established in 1928 as the Federated Pharmaceutical Services Guild of Australia and is registered under the federal Fair Work Act 2009 as an employers' organization and as a Registered Training Organisation.
Structure and function
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is a single legal entity and is structured as follows:National Council
The National Council is the supreme governing body. It lays down all Guild policies, decides major issues and has the power to amend the Constitution, subject to referendum where required. Supporting National Council in the development of policies is a number of national committees that undertake research, examine strategies, provide advice and recommend policy approaches.National President
The National President works closely with the Executive Director and the Secretariat, and is the main spokesperson for the Guild. While always a pharmacist proprietor, the role of National President is effectively full-time.Executive Director
The Executive Director is entrusted with implementing the policies and decisions of National Council through the National Secretariat, with salaried, professional and administrative staff, and external consultants. The Secretariat is located in the Parliamentary Zone in Canberra, close to Parliament House.State and territory branches
Branch activities centre on the day-to-day servicing of members in such fields as industrial relations, marketing, staff training, and product and economic information. The Guild has branches in every Australian State and Territory:- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
State Presidents
| Year | ACT President | NSW President | Queensland President | SA President | NT President | Tasmania President | Victoria President | WA President |
| 2019 | Simon Blacker | David Heffernan | Trent Twomey | Nick Panayiaris | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Andrew Ngeow |
| 2018 | Simon Blacker | David Heffernan | Trent Twomey | Nick Panayiaris | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Andrew Ngeow |
| 2017 | Amanda Galbraith | Rick Samimi | Timothy Logan | Nick Panayiaris | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Stephen Wragg |
| 2016 | Amanda Galbraith | Mark Douglas | Timothy Logan | Nick Panayiaris | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Stephen Wragg |
| 2015 | Amanda Galbraith | Paul Sinclair | Timothy Logan | Nick Panayiaris | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Stephen Wragg |
| 2014 | Amanda Galbraith | Paul Sinclair | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | Anthony Tassone | Lenette Mullen |
| 2013 | Amanda Galbraith | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Terry Battalis | John Dowling | George Tambassis | Lenette Mullen |
| 2012 | Amanda Galbraith | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Nunzio Meta | John Dowling | Dipak Sanghvi | Lenette Mullen |
| 2011 | Amanda Galbraith | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Nunzio Meta | John Dowling | Dipak Sanghvi | Lenette Mullen |
| 2010 | Amanda Galbraith | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Nunzio Meta | Judith Liauw | Dipak Sanghvi | Lenette Mullen |
| 2009 | Amanda Galbraith | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Nunzio Meta | Judith Liauw | Dipak Sanghvi | Lenette Mullen |
| 2008 | Patrick Reid | Si Banks | Timothy Logan | Ian Todd | Nunzio Meta | John Dowling | Dipak Sanghvi | Harry Zafer |
Policy and legislation
The development of policy and legislation is the responsibility of the Guild's governing body, the National Council, on which all State and Territory Branches are represented. Implementation of policy is overseen by the National Executive and effected through the National Secretariat.Services
The Guild provides a range of services to its members, including:- Online services and products
- Business development programs
- Government relations and policy
- Education and training
- Quality assurance
- Rural, professional and corporate services
- Public health pharmacy programs
- Pharmacy publications
- Events
Community pharmacy agreements
The pharmacy agreements set out the amounts of the various fees pharmacies are paid to dispense PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines, as well as the estimated total cost of pharmacy remuneration over the life of the agreement.
The more recent agreements also provide for the funding of various programs intended to improve the use of PBS and RPBS medicines in the community. The agreements also establish a Community Service Obligation funding pool to be drawn on by pharmaceutical wholesalers that can meet specified service standards for supplying PBS and RPBS medicines to retail pharmacies.
The estimated total cost of these successive agreements, including the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement, is $64 billion.
The Guild Group of Companies
Guild Insurance
Established in 1963, Guild Insurance provides business insurance, professional indemnity, home & contents and car insurance.Guild Super
Established in 1994, Guild Trustee Services Pty Limited is the trustee for the Guild Retirement Fund, which includes GuildSuper, Child Care Super and GuildPension.Meridian Lawyers
Established in 2004, with the aim of providing legal services. Meridian provide legal advice in insurance law, health law, corporate and commercial law, employment law, commercial litigation and dispute resolution from our offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Brisbane and Perth.Gold Cross
Established in 1940 as Gilseal and renamed Gold Cross Products & Services in 1997, Gold Cross endorses pharmacy products and services badged with the Guild's logo. The company owns the Glucojel Confectionary and is the publisher of the official journal of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, In The Know.Guild Link
Established in 1995, as a Medicines Information platform Guildlink is the Guild's Information Technology Company. GuildLink has been working with pharmaceutical companies, dispensing software vendors and health information providers to distribute medicines information electronically to the Australian market. In 2011 GuildCare was launched as part of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia's initiative to have a national systemised platform for delivering of professional health services with a goal to position pharmacies to be ready for the introduction of Australian Governments eHealth agenda.FRED IT Group
Established in 1992, Fred IT Group is Australia's largest dedicated IT solution provider to the pharmacy industry. Fred is a partnership with the Guild and Telstra and employs over 200 staff. Fred services approximately 3,000 business customers across Australia, representing roughly 60% of the market. The company offers:- cloud based management platform specifically for pharmacy
- dispense solution for retail pharmacy – Fred Dispense
- Fred Office and POS Solutions which integrate to provide management of the professional and commercial aspects of retail pharmacy
- cloud-based server and network monitoring and maintenance, and backup and recovery
- Supply and installation of IT hardware
Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy
The AACP came into existence as the Australian Society of Consultant Pharmacists in 1992 and was re-named to its present title in 1994. The AACP is jointly owned by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
The AACP was established to develop a national approach to the practice of 'consultant' pharmacy as an expansion of the professional health role of pharmacy in Australia. As such, it promotes and seeks recognition for the practice of consultant pharmacy and the provision of value-added, professional services in Australia.
World Pharmacy Council
The Guild is a founding member of the World Pharmacy Council. Established in 1987, the Council is a global organisation formed from the world's peak community pharmacy bodies. The inaugural meeting occurred in Chester, UK, in 1987. It was founded on the idea that an international community pharmacy forum involving representatives of the peak community pharmacy organisations was needed.Objectives
- to be the worldwide voice of the community pharmacy profession and represent the interests of members;
- to promote policies relating to community pharmacies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world;
- to recognise and value community pharmacies in the delivery of safe and effective health care systems;
- to support research to further ensure and improve health of citizens;
- to measure productivity and global flows of trade and investment relating to community pharmacy;
- to provide recommendations and opinions to, and actively co-operate with, government authorities or organisations in the promotion of health care;
- to further and protect the interests of and generally to do anything which may be considered beneficial for its members; and
- to support and build the ability of the members' members to provide better health care to the public.