PSA 2026 Lifetime Achievement recipient Carlene Smith AM has shaped medicines management nationwide through her leadership in Home Medicines Reviews, education and collaborative patient care.
Throughout her career, Ms Smith has balanced community pharmacy, education and medicines management to improve the safety and accessibility of medicines across Australia.
Initially a community pharmacist, Ms Smith owned and operated a pharmacy in Sydney with her husband for many years before expanding her career into medication review, research, education and professional leadership.
Through her research at the University of Sydney, Ms Smith assisted in establishing and promoting Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs) and working with GPs while also training pharmacists in service delivery.
At the same time, Ms Smith was conducting medication reviews in residential aged care facilities, working closely with healthcare teams to optimise medicine use and improve patient outcomes. This commitment to care alongside her ability to identify practical solutions for complex medicines management challenges has led to her receiving PSA’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement award.
Ms Smith also played a key role in developing the pharmacy workforce by teaching 4th-year pharmacy students at the University of Sydney, while delivering medicines review training, and supporting pharmacists implementing HMR services through the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
As the Pharmacy Guild’s NSW Medication Management Review Facilitator, Ms Smith helped establish collaborative relationships between pharmacists and GPs, encouraging higher uptake of medication review services and strengthening multidisciplinary care.
In this role she was pivotal in developing the Medication Review Support Modules – case-based educational resources that ultimately empowered hundreds of pharmacists and GPs to explore the clinical aspects of medicines reviews.
Throughout her career, Ms Smith has remained steadfast in her advocacy for combining clinical expertise
with effective communication to improve patient care. Today, she continues to support community pharmacies as a consultant, helping to implement and strengthen professional pharmacy services.
To recognise her longstanding commitment and contribution to pharmacy and medicines management, Ms Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
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