Pharmacy Board of Australia - Codes, Guidelines and Policies
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Codes, Guidelines and Policies

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has developed codes, guidelines and policies to provide guidance to the profession. These also help to clarify the Board’s views and expectations on a range of issues.

Codes and guidelines are approved by the National Board and may be used as evidence of what constitutes appropriate professional conduct or practice for pharmacy in proceedings under the National Law or a law of a co-regulatory jurisdiction against a health practitioner.

Quick reference guide

For ease of reference, the Board has published a quick reference guide to its guidelines, to help pharmacists identify the appropriate document to read.

Codes

Document  PDF  Accessible format  Date of effect 
Code of conduct

For more information see Code of conduct page 
PDF (323KB) Web page  29 June 2022

Guides

Document Accessible format  Date of effect 
Social media: How to meet your obligations under the National Law Web page 11 November 2019

Guidelines

Document PDF Accessible format Date of effect
Guideline - Informing a National Board about where you practise  PDF (152 KB)  Word 
(590 KB,DOCX)
1 August 2018
Guidelines on compounding of medicines PDF (493 KB) Word
(462 KB,DOCX)
1 October 2024 
  • Background on the regulation of the supply and manufacture of medicines including medicines compounded by pharmacists
PDF (58.3 KB)  Word 
(366 KB,DOCX) 
 
  • Consumer fact sheet
 PDF (184 KB) Word
(192 KB,DOCX)
 
 
  • Joint statement on compounded medicines – Pharmacy Board of Australia and Medical Board of Australia
PDF (77.5KB)  Word
(695 KB,DOCX)

 24 November 2017

Amended 14 October 2024

Guidelines on continuing professional development PDF (99.7KB)
Word 
(40.8 KB,DOCX) 
1 December 2015 
Guidelines for dispensing of medicines3 PDF (114 KB) Word 
(388 KB,DOCX)

7 December 2015

Amended on 15 March 2023

Guidelines on practice-specific issues PDF (59.5 KB) Word 
(370 KB,DOCX)
7 December 2015
  • Guidelines on practice-specific issues - Guideline 1 (List of reference texts for pharmacists)4
PDF (48.8 KB) Word 
(363 KB,DOCX)

7 December 2015

Amended on 16 September 2015

Amended on 15 March 2023

Amended on 16 May 2023

Amended on 18 August 2023

Guidelines for proprietor pharmacists PDF (52.2 KB) Word 
(367 KB,DOCX)
7 December 2015
Guidelines on dose administration aids and staged supply of dispensed medicines PDF (74.4 KB) Word 
(374 KB,DOCX)
7 December 2015
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners1 PDF (250 KB) Web page 1 March 2020
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students2 PDF (250 KB) Web page 1 March 2020
Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service PDF (192 KB) Web page 14 December 2020

Position statements

 Document PDF Accessible format Document date 
Joint statement on professional responsibilities for prescribing and dispensing medicines  PDF (354 KB) Webpage 3 June 2024 
No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare PDF (205 KB)  Word version
(120 KB,DOCX)
30 June 2021

Policies

Document PDF Accessible format Date of effect
Common Protocol - Informing notifiers about the reasons for National Board decisions  PDF (91.8KB) Word version 
(58.6 KB,DOCX) 
1 August 2018

Policy directions

Under Section 11 of the National Law, as in force in each state and territory, the Ministerial Council may issue a National Board with policy directions.

Document PDF Accessible format Date of effect
Policy Direction 2019-01 - Paramountcy of public protection when administering the National Scheme
Policy Direction 2019-02 - Requirements to consult with patient safety bodies and health care consumer bodies on every new and revised registration standard, code and guidelines
PDF
(2.34MB)
8 January 2020

Retired Codes and Guidelines

For codes and guidelines that no longer apply, please see Retired Codes and Guidelines.

FAQ and Fact Sheets

For more information, please see FAQ and Fact Sheets.


  1. The Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners have been updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and changes to the flowcharts on pages 20, 22 and 26 of the guidelines.
  2. The Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students have been updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and sections 39 and 40 of the National Law in Appendix A.
  3. The Guidelines for dispensing of medicines have been updated on 15 March 2023 to include changes to the qualifications and competencies published by the Board in Guideline 12.1 which outlines options for ensuring the competence of dispensary assistants, dispensary technicians or hospital pharmacy technicians.
  4. The Guidelines on practice-specific issues - Guideline 1 (List of reference texts for pharmacists) has been updated on 15 March 2023 to include changes to the titles of currently available reference texts.
  5. The Joint statement on compounded medicines – Pharmacy Board of Australia and Medical Board of Australia was updated on 14 October 2024 to include minor changes to align with the revised Guidelines on compounding of medicines that came into effect on 1 October 2024.
 
 
Page reviewed 15/10/2024