On a quiet weekday afternoon, when the roster suddenly unravels or a pharmacist calls in sick with no replacement in sight, the pressure on a community pharmacy can be immediate and unforgiving. For many pharmacists—particularly in regional and rural Australia—these moments are not rare interruptions, but familiar stress points. They highlight how finely balanced the community pharmacy workforce has become, and how dependent safe patient care is on the systems that support pharmacists when things go wrong.
It’s against this backdrop that the recent announcement by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) — entering into a Heads of Agreement for Australia’s first Pharmacy Programs Agreement — has been welcomed across the profession. Combined with the outcomes of the Deloitte Pharmacy Programs Cost Effectiveness Review, the message is both timely and reassuring: pharmacy programs work, they deliver value, and they deserve long-term certainty.
A milestone moment for pharmacy programs
For decades, pharmacy programs have played a quiet but critical role in supporting community practice. From medication safety initiatives to workforce support and digital health services, these programs have helped pharmacists meet rising expectations in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.
Yet many of these programs have historically operated under short-term funding arrangements, limiting their ability to evolve or respond strategically to workforce pressures. The PSA’s Heads of Agreement marks a turning point—laying the groundwork for clearer governance, stronger partnerships, and continuity beyond election and negotiation cycles.
For community pharmacists, this shift matters. Certainty in program funding is not abstract policy; it directly affects whether services are available when pharmacies need them most, and whether pharmacists feel supported to remain in the profession.
From the Community Pharmacy Agreement to a dedicated programs framework
Historically, many nationally delivered pharmacy programs were funded and administered through the Community Pharmacy Agreement (CPA) framework, most recently under the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA). The CPA has long provided the backbone for community pharmacy remuneration and investment, including support for professional programs that sit alongside dispensing arrangements.
However, the CPA was never designed to be a permanent home for an expanding suite of professional and workforce-focused programs. Under the 7CPA, these initiatives were negotiated within a broader commercial and remuneration framework—meaning their future was often tied to complex, multi-year negotiations and shifting fiscal priorities.
As outlined by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the 7CPA represented a substantial investment in community pharmacy. Yet its structure inevitably limited long-term planning for individual programs, particularly those focused on workforce sustainability rather than dispensing volume.
The move toward a standalone Pharmacy Programs Agreement represents a deliberate and important shift. By separating professional programs from the broader CPA framework, pharmacy programs are now recognised as essential health system infrastructure in their own right—requiring dedicated oversight, transparency, and continuity.
For workforce-critical initiatives, this structural change is more than administrative. It is foundational.
What the Deloitte review tells us
The independent review conducted by Deloitte reinforces the importance of this shift. The Pharmacy Programs Cost Effectiveness Review found that all programs assessed were delivering value and should be continued—going so far as to recommend that every program be fully implemented.
Rather than identifying inefficiencies to wind back, the review highlighted how pharmacy programs:
Support continuity of care, particularly in rural and remote communities
Reduce downstream healthcare costs by preventing service disruption
Provide professional and workforce support that helps retain pharmacists
At a time when pharmacist burnout and workforce shortages are well documented, these findings underscore a critical point: investing in pharmacy programs is not optional—it is preventative healthcare policy.
Why the Emergency Locum Service matters
Among the programs covered by the Agreement is the Emergency Locum Service (ELS) Program—a service that many pharmacists only truly appreciate when they need it.
When a pharmacist is suddenly unavailable due to illness, family emergency, or an unexpected vacancy, ELS can be the difference between a pharmacy remaining open or closing its doors. In rural and regional areas, that difference can determine whether a community has access to essential medicines at all.
The Deloitte review’s endorsement of ELS funding validates what pharmacists on the ground already know: emergency workforce support is not a contingency—it is core infrastructure. By enabling rapid access to locum pharmacists, ELS protects patient access, supports business continuity, and reduces the risk of burnout among remaining staff.
Just as importantly, it acknowledges pharmacists as people, not interchangeable resources, and recognises that a sustainable workforce requires systems that respond when life inevitably intervenes.
Certainty enables workforce planning
Funding certainty through a Pharmacy Programs Agreement does more than preserve existing services. It enables planning—by pharmacists, by program administrators, and by those responsible for workforce sustainability.
Stable programs allow:
Pharmacists to engage with services knowing they will still exist next year
Organisations to invest in training, technology, and program improvement
Workforce planners to align recruitment, retention, and support strategies
At Raven’s Recruitment, this link between program stability and workforce confidence is seen daily. When pharmacists know that support structures like ELS and professional programs are secure, they are more willing to consider roles in regional communities or in pharmacies facing workforce pressure—roles that might otherwise feel too risky.
A step toward a more sustainable future
The PSA’s call to implement all recommendations of the Deloitte review reflects a broader ambition: a pharmacy sector that is proactive rather than reactive. One where professional programs are embedded, trusted, and designed to support pharmacists across every stage of their career.
While no single agreement will resolve every challenge facing community pharmacy, the Pharmacy Programs Agreement represents meaningful progress. It acknowledges that pharmacy programs deliver value, that pharmacists need certainty, and that partnership—not short-term fixes—is essential to sustainability.
For community pharmacists navigating increasing clinical responsibility alongside workforce strain, that recognition matters.
As this new framework takes shape, the question now is not whether pharmacy programs should exist, but how this newfound certainty might change the way pharmacists plan their careers, support their teams, and serve their communities. How will this shift influence the future of your own pharmacy practice?
