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[post_content] => A record 38 pharmacists have been inducted as Fellows of the PSA at the annual Fellows Dinner, recognising leadership, advocacy, and service to the profession over an extended period.
PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS congratulated the 2025 cohort, saying: ‘This year’s Fellows showcase the passion, leadership and drive for excellence that define our profession’.
‘Being awarded Fellowship is a recognition of the sustained and outstanding contributions many pharmacists make to PSA and the broader pharmacy profession.
‘On behalf of PSA, I extend my congratulations to each of these remarkable pharmacists, and thank them for their enduring service and dedication to driving our profession forward.’
In addition to 38 Fellows, PSA has also recognised Rhonda White AO and Terry White AO as PSA Life Fellows.
‘In particular I’d like to acknowledge and congratulate Rhonda and Terry White, two stalwarts of Australian pharmacy who we are proud to recognise as Life Fellows of the PSA.
‘Together, Terry and Rhonda have changed the course of Australian pharmacy, championing accessible, patient-centred care and inspiring generations of pharmacists through their leadership.
‘PSA is proud to honour their lifelong dedication to community pharmacy.’
Among the 2025 cohort are a number of PSA staff who have had a significant impact on the pharmacy profession.
‘The PSA team are the backbone of our organisation, working unbelievably hard to support pharmacists across the country. For these members of our team, who are also pharmacists themselves, the drive to make an impact on their profession is particularly strong.
‘Congratulations to Caroyln, Claire, Chris, Quyen, Peter, Jarrod, Kay, Helen and Ella, these recognitions are very well deserved,’ A/Prof Sim said.
Full list of PSA Fellows inducted in 2025:
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[post_content] => PSA’s biggest ever national conference wrapped yesterday (Sunday 3 August) after 3 full days of learning and networking.
The rainy weather didn’t stop more than 1,200 pharmacists from all areas of practice and corners of the country coming together at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC) to further their knowledge and practice with Australia’s leading pharmacy voices.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30118,30113,30115,30116,30117,30119"]
If you weren't able to make it down to the conference, Australian Pharmacist has captured some of the best moments.
WA student clinches 2025 Pharmacy Student of the Year
Curtin University student Maxime Watts took out the 2025 PSA Viatris Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY) award, as well as the People’s Choice award – as voted by PSA25 delegates.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30105,30106"]
‘I feel incredibly grateful to receive this recognition,’ Ms Waters told AP. ‘Pharmacy has become something I’m genuinely passionate about, and to have my work acknowledged in this way means so much. I’m looking forward to starting my career and continuing to learn within such a supportive profession.’
Seeing the next generation of pharmacists showcase their skills is a highlight of PSA national conference, said PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS.
‘These are our future pharmacists, our future leaders, and I must say I’m very confident our profession is in good hands,’ she said.
‘Each of the students who participated in the PSOTY competition has demonstrated impressive professionalism, skill, and dedication. On behalf of PSA, I wish them all the best in what I’m sure will be successful and rewarding careers as pharmacists.’
Pharmacist glitterati dazzle at the Gala Dinner
Pharmacists donned sequins, sparkles and feathers at Saturday night’s gala dinner, themed carnivàle.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30103,30104,30107,30108,30109,30110,30111"]
Delegates were transported to downtown Rio, with professional dancers putting on a colorful and acrobatic display – before hitting the dance floor to show off their own moves.
See if you can spot your friends and colleagues in the crowd.
Closing out PSA’s biggest conference ever
To cap off the weekend, PSA and the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA) presented the Outstanding Poster Presentation to Jade Swarbrick for her presentation ADHD in GP settings. The Outstanding Oral Presentation went to Kym Ramsey for his presentation Utilising rural community pharmacists to screen for chronic diseases.
PSA and PDL once again joined forces to present the 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award to Madeline Scarlett, as voted by PSA25 delegates, in recognition of her positivity and helpfulness across the weekend.
Closing the event, PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS highlighted the significance of PSA membership reaching 20,000 for the first time – reflecting the growing confidence pharmacists have in PSA as their professional home.
‘Every year I leave this conference feeling a renewed sense of belonging and passion for this profession,’ she said.
‘Thank you to everyone who made PSA25 a success – our delegates, volunteers, branch committees, staff, speakers and partners – I’m truly inspired by every single one of you.
‘Whether you’re a student, early career pharmacist, or seasoned practitioner, PSA is proud to be your professional home, giving you the tools and the support you need to build the pharmacy career you want.’
See you all again next year at PSA26, held in Sydney at the ICC from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August.
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[post_content] => To ensure PBS claiming practices are compliant, ethical and audit-ready, here’s what every pharmacist should know.
Navigating the legislative and regulatory requirements of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can be challenging. Yet staying informed and compliant is essential to avoid penalties and safeguard public funding.
‘The systems we use to detect non-compliance are continually evolving,’ Karen Prstec, Director of the PBS Compliance Section of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, told delegates at the PSA25 session Stay compliant! Your guide to PBS claiming.
‘We don’t rely solely on digital data; we also investigate non-compliance through calls to doctors, patients and pharmacists.’
What are common compliance breaches?
Compliance safeguards the sustainability of the PBS, with pharmacists acting as the ethical gatekeepers of the scheme to ensure public funds are spent appropriately.
While significant fraud is relatively rare, everyday breaches of the National Health Act 1953 and the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations 2017 are surprisingly frequent.
These include ‘forward dispensing’ – when the pharmacist anticipates the patient coming in and dispenses ahead of request – claiming unused repeats and unauthorised repeats.
Of these, forward dispensing remains the most common – but non-compliant – practice, said Assistant Director of the PBS Compliance Section Hyunji Yoon, who co-presented the session with Mrs Prstec.
‘The dispensed medication then sits on the shelf and, sometimes, when the patient doesn’t collect it, the claim for supply is still submitted.’
If uncollected medications still remain in the pharmacy, pharmacists must cancel those PBS claims, advised Mrs Prstec. ‘You can’t just put the medicine back on the shelf and receive the money, but you would be surprised how many times we see that happening in practice.’
A breach of legislation for claims for unused repeats may occur when a patient changes their treatment, for example. ‘Perhaps the patient is on a certain drug for depression and that doesn’t work so the doctor prescribes a new medicine,’ Ms Yoon said.
‘The patient may keep their prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacist decides why waste the prescription so pushes it through and claims for payment, although supply did not occur.’
Unauthorised repeats may result from patient requests for additional repeats, which were not authorised by the prescriber and the pharmacist fails to obtain authorisation from the prescriber.
The PBS Compliance Section has also detected cases of claims submitted for medicines removed from circulation. ‘That is a major red flag and supply may result in criminal charges,’ Mrs Prstec said.
She told delegates: ‘At the end of the day the PBS is built on supply. If a medicine hasn't been dispensed and supplied to a patient – with a valid prescription, in accordance with the medical practitioner’s instructions – then claiming is non-compliant. Those are the very simple foundations.’
What can get your PBS approval cancelled, and worse?
Systemic non-compliance can lead to criminal prosecution and custodial sentences, financial recovery, loss of PBS approval, reputational damage and disciplinary action.
For example, one pharmacy submitted a large volume of claims using the same authority prescription ID and authority approval ID for prescriptions for different patients and medicines.
The heart medicine Entresto, which attracts a PBS benefit of $100.59, was claimed using authority approval ID 04492022 in 2022. That same approval ID was then used to claim cladribine (a high-value medicine worth $29,000 in PBS benefits) for two different patients in 2024 totalling $117,140 in overpayments of PBS benefits. Over a 30-month period, from January 2022 to June 2024, this pattern of misuse resulted in $1.6M in PBS benefits being overpaid to the pharmacy.
‘This case highlights a serious non-compliant behaviour as authority approval IDs are unique to each prescription,’ Mrs Prstec said. ‘This pharmacist had their PBS approval revoked as a result.’
In another case, four pharmacies, all owned by the same pharmacist, submitted PBS claims for the same prescription for the same patient. ‘Interestingly all these duplicated claims were for high-value items with over $1,000 in PBS benefits,’ she said.
Duodopa gel, a high-cost treatment used in advanced Parkinson’s disease that attracts over $5,000 in PBS benefits, was claimed by all four pharmacies each time a patient presented a prescription for supply at one of those pharmacies. The highest claimed medicine by volume of claims and total government repayment amount was the cancer medicine ibrutinib – totalling 23 claims.
‘This behaviour resulted in a total of $607,000 in PBS benefits being overpaid over a 30-month period,’ Ms Yoon said. ‘Duplicate claiming is not only non-compliant, but also deceptive and undermines the integrity of the PBS. So this pharmacist’s PBS approval was revoked.’
How can pharmacists report non-compliance?
Pharmacists who identify genuine errors may voluntarily acknowledge the issue and repay the incorrect amounts. ‘If something doesn’t seem right, pharmacists should consult the legislation or PBS guidelines,’ Ms Yoon advised.
Tip-offs regarding non-compliance can be submitted anonymously by pharmacy staff, patients, or state regulators. Reports can be made to the Provider Benefits Integrity Hotline 1800 314 808 or online via the Department's Tip-off form.
Providing as much specific information as possible, such as copies of labels or receipts, greatly assists investigations.
Best practice in PBS supply and claiming
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[post_content] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
After last night’s networking event in the jam-packed exhibition hall, factions of pharmacists broke off to attend the Fellows Dinner or the renowned ECP party – with some reconvening again at the Members-only breakfast this morning.
Your trusty Australian Pharmacists reporters made the rounds this morning to document the night shenanigans in words and pictures.
Mixing friends and formulas
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30067,30071,30070,30069,30068"]
What better way to let your hair down after a day of learning that at PSA25 networking event. Pharmacists milled about in the exhibition hall, catching up with colleagues over nibbles and canapés.
‘It's wonderful connecting with friends,’ said Stephanie Johnston FPS.
ECP’s let their hair down
Last night, ECPs got their glow on the Cafe Del Mar – chatting about all things pharmacy in between busting a move.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30075,30077,30076,30074,30073"]
The best part of the ECP party was meeting and networking with other like-minded young pharmacists, said Hannah Barakat MPS, Pharmacy Manager at Bendigo UFS Hargrave Street.
‘I find it really reinvigorating to meeting other people doing fabulous things. It reinforces why I wanted to be a pharmacist!’ she said.
‘It's so good to meet other pharmacists who enjoy being pharmacists and want to do better,’ agreed Katelyn Beattie, the 2025 Victorian Intern Pharmacist of the Year.
‘Reconnecting with people we have met at NAPSA and seeing what they are all doing now. I want to be there (at the ECP party) to soak it up!’
Breakfast with PSA’s national president
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30064,30063,30062"]
Pharmacists rose early to catch breakfast with PSA’s national president, Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS and PSA’s General Manager for Policy and Program Delivery Chris Campbell FPS. At this annual event, PSA members get the opportunity to ask PSA leadership about the direction of the profession and how PSA is steering pharmacists towards it.
New fellows
A highlight of the fellows dinner was the review of fellows and the number of new inductees, said pharmacy legend John Bell FPS.
‘The younger fellows are from a broad range of practice settings, academia, hospital and community, and PSA employees recognised for their contributions over a number of years,’ he said.
[post_title] => PSA25: the place to be!
[post_excerpt] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
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[post_content] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
Australian children are experiencing significant medication-related harm. In the last 6 months alone, around 120,000 Australian children aged 0 to 14 experienced an adverse event due to medicines. And every day more than 45 of the presentations to Australian hospitals of children with medicine-related problems are preventable.
So what’s causing this rise in misadventure and how can pharmacists help to protect children from harm?
A panel of experts, whose skills range from lived experience to poisons information, shed light on the issue on the PSA25 Paediatric safety panel.
What are the risks for young children?
Children aged under 5 are particularly vulnerable as they begin to explore the world around them – often with their mouths. In 2024, around 25% of calls to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre involved this age group, James White, a pharmacist expert at the centre told delegates.
The most commonly ingested medicines were paracetamol, ibuprofen, nappy rash products, vitamin compounds and melatonin. Often, the problem isn’t actually the medicine, but how it’s given.
‘The most common call we receive is about double dosing,’ he said. ‘This is often due to a communication breakdown between carers. It usually peaks in the morning, after the workday and at bedtime – we can map the calls to the times when children are receiving the medicine.’
There is also the use of inappropriate dosing devices, such as using a spoon instead of a dosing syringe to measure liquid, or a parent keeping multiple strengths of paracetamol in the house and giving a child the wrong one. Dosing instructions can also be confusing: ‘3 ml daily for 3 days’ can easily be misread as ‘3 times a day’.
Other times, children get stuck into vitamins that are formulated to taste – and look – like lollies. ‘We get a large number of calls about kids who’ve helped themselves to flavoured multivitamins,’ Mr White said. ‘Most of the time, there isn’t enough in them to cause concern, but iron can be an exception.’
While many of the cases he encounters can be managed at home, the emotional toll on families is significant.
‘Most of the time, [children] recover without needing to go to hospital. But it’s still a very traumatic experience for the child and their parents.’
Some cases are more serious, including one call involving a 4-year-old child who had ingested a THC edible created to resemble a gummy sweet.
‘Cannabis can cause significant seizures and respiratory failure in children, and this child ended up in the emergency department,’ he said. ‘He experienced prolonged sedation and spent multiple days in hospital. With those calls, you’re talking a parent through one of the scariest times of their life.’
What trends are driving harm in older children?
As many medicines are not tested in children prior to entering the market, off-label prescribing for children is common. This makes them potentially susceptible to adverse events as medicines are used outside of their approved age, weight, dose, formulation or administration route.
Children were involved in 9% of incidents reported to Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in the past year, according to Professional Officer Jess Hadley. There was an increase in harm from psychotropic medicines – particularly in female adolescent patients – and clonidine, which is commonly used off-label for ADHD or other behavioural conditions.
‘There has been a two-fold increase in medication for ADHD use in Australia, and obviously with any increase in medications for children there’s an increased risk of error,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We have seen issues where the formulation isn’t appropriate. For example, clonidine can be compounded as a liquid or given as a tablet. If it’s prescribed as a tablet, it requires the parent to halve or quarter the dose – to do that accurately can be difficult.’
‘Pharmacists are autonomous health practitioners and if there is ever a prescription we feel isn’t safe or appropriate for the patient, or a dosage that seems to be outside therapeutic guidelines, it needs to be discussed with the prescriber,’ she added.
Mental health and disability advocate Rachael Burns was raised with an unquestioning faith in the health system. But while navigating intersectional mental and physical health challenges throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, she has been harmed by practices that have been done to her, not with her.
‘My experience with medicines has been a very complex one,’ Ms Burns, now 22, said. ‘I’ve been helped by them but also harmed by them – though not in the ways one might typically expect. I was prescribed a medicine that caused an infection, despite having expressed my concerns about errors in dosing with mental health medicines.’
How can pharmacists help to prevent harm?
A key method community pharmacists can use to help prevent medicine harm in children is reinforcing the basics, Mr White said. This includes reminding patients to keep medicines out of sight of children, discard unused medicines safely, always doublecheck the dose and never leave a child unsupervised around medicines – even for a moment.
‘When basic medicine safety principles aren’t followed, that’s when we see errors,’ he said. ‘We get lots of calls where Mum or Dad popped to the toilet for a second and that’s when the child was able to ingest the medicine. As trusted members of the community, pharmacists can really help to get those messages across. Having the Poisons Information Centre number on hand (13 11 26) and referring patients to this is also important.’
Ms Burns’ experiences with pharmacists – far less than her interactions with doctors – have felt ‘a lot more dignified’.
‘It shouldn’t be a rarity to feel heard. In my interactions with pharmacists, they’ve often been more clear and willing to explain things to me. Respect is important for all patients, no matter how old they are,’ she said.
‘There’s a really important role for pharmacists as allies for children and young people, particularly those with mental health challenges.’
What else needs to change?
PSA’s Medicine safety: child and adolescent care report, released in January this year, recommends five practical changes to help ensure children and adolescents can use medicines they need in a safe and effective manner.
According to Ms Hadley, the recommendation to include a pharmacist on all children’s wards in hospitals is ‘the best place to start’.
‘I’m really confident that would significantly reduce the risk of harm,’ she said.
She also advocates for improved systems to detect and prevent medicine errors. ‘For higher risk medicines, or those more prone to error, there should be a requirement that two healthcare professionals sign off, for example a pharmacist and a nurse,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We also need more standardisation. You might see prednisolone prescribed to a child for asthma, and this is sometimes prescribed as milligrams, sometimes as millilitres – and sometimes it’s written as both. This means the pharmacist needs to convert the dose each time.’
Mr White said the Victorian Poisons Information Centre wholeheartedly supports PSA’s recommendations ‘from an advocacy perspective’ but says there is much more his team could do with the right resources.
‘From a poisons [specialist] perspective, we would recommend more funding. This would mean we could provide more community education, map toxicology trends – we have a lot of information that could be put to use.’
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[post_content] => A record 38 pharmacists have been inducted as Fellows of the PSA at the annual Fellows Dinner, recognising leadership, advocacy, and service to the profession over an extended period.
PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS congratulated the 2025 cohort, saying: ‘This year’s Fellows showcase the passion, leadership and drive for excellence that define our profession’.
‘Being awarded Fellowship is a recognition of the sustained and outstanding contributions many pharmacists make to PSA and the broader pharmacy profession.
‘On behalf of PSA, I extend my congratulations to each of these remarkable pharmacists, and thank them for their enduring service and dedication to driving our profession forward.’
In addition to 38 Fellows, PSA has also recognised Rhonda White AO and Terry White AO as PSA Life Fellows.
‘In particular I’d like to acknowledge and congratulate Rhonda and Terry White, two stalwarts of Australian pharmacy who we are proud to recognise as Life Fellows of the PSA.
‘Together, Terry and Rhonda have changed the course of Australian pharmacy, championing accessible, patient-centred care and inspiring generations of pharmacists through their leadership.
‘PSA is proud to honour their lifelong dedication to community pharmacy.’
Among the 2025 cohort are a number of PSA staff who have had a significant impact on the pharmacy profession.
‘The PSA team are the backbone of our organisation, working unbelievably hard to support pharmacists across the country. For these members of our team, who are also pharmacists themselves, the drive to make an impact on their profession is particularly strong.
‘Congratulations to Caroyln, Claire, Chris, Quyen, Peter, Jarrod, Kay, Helen and Ella, these recognitions are very well deserved,’ A/Prof Sim said.
Full list of PSA Fellows inducted in 2025:
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[post_content] => PSA’s biggest ever national conference wrapped yesterday (Sunday 3 August) after 3 full days of learning and networking.
The rainy weather didn’t stop more than 1,200 pharmacists from all areas of practice and corners of the country coming together at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC) to further their knowledge and practice with Australia’s leading pharmacy voices.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30118,30113,30115,30116,30117,30119"]
If you weren't able to make it down to the conference, Australian Pharmacist has captured some of the best moments.
WA student clinches 2025 Pharmacy Student of the Year
Curtin University student Maxime Watts took out the 2025 PSA Viatris Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY) award, as well as the People’s Choice award – as voted by PSA25 delegates.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30105,30106"]
‘I feel incredibly grateful to receive this recognition,’ Ms Waters told AP. ‘Pharmacy has become something I’m genuinely passionate about, and to have my work acknowledged in this way means so much. I’m looking forward to starting my career and continuing to learn within such a supportive profession.’
Seeing the next generation of pharmacists showcase their skills is a highlight of PSA national conference, said PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS.
‘These are our future pharmacists, our future leaders, and I must say I’m very confident our profession is in good hands,’ she said.
‘Each of the students who participated in the PSOTY competition has demonstrated impressive professionalism, skill, and dedication. On behalf of PSA, I wish them all the best in what I’m sure will be successful and rewarding careers as pharmacists.’
Pharmacist glitterati dazzle at the Gala Dinner
Pharmacists donned sequins, sparkles and feathers at Saturday night’s gala dinner, themed carnivàle.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30103,30104,30107,30108,30109,30110,30111"]
Delegates were transported to downtown Rio, with professional dancers putting on a colorful and acrobatic display – before hitting the dance floor to show off their own moves.
See if you can spot your friends and colleagues in the crowd.
Closing out PSA’s biggest conference ever
To cap off the weekend, PSA and the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA) presented the Outstanding Poster Presentation to Jade Swarbrick for her presentation ADHD in GP settings. The Outstanding Oral Presentation went to Kym Ramsey for his presentation Utilising rural community pharmacists to screen for chronic diseases.
PSA and PDL once again joined forces to present the 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award to Madeline Scarlett, as voted by PSA25 delegates, in recognition of her positivity and helpfulness across the weekend.
Closing the event, PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS highlighted the significance of PSA membership reaching 20,000 for the first time – reflecting the growing confidence pharmacists have in PSA as their professional home.
‘Every year I leave this conference feeling a renewed sense of belonging and passion for this profession,’ she said.
‘Thank you to everyone who made PSA25 a success – our delegates, volunteers, branch committees, staff, speakers and partners – I’m truly inspired by every single one of you.
‘Whether you’re a student, early career pharmacist, or seasoned practitioner, PSA is proud to be your professional home, giving you the tools and the support you need to build the pharmacy career you want.’
See you all again next year at PSA26, held in Sydney at the ICC from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August.
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[post_content] => To ensure PBS claiming practices are compliant, ethical and audit-ready, here’s what every pharmacist should know.
Navigating the legislative and regulatory requirements of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can be challenging. Yet staying informed and compliant is essential to avoid penalties and safeguard public funding.
‘The systems we use to detect non-compliance are continually evolving,’ Karen Prstec, Director of the PBS Compliance Section of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, told delegates at the PSA25 session Stay compliant! Your guide to PBS claiming.
‘We don’t rely solely on digital data; we also investigate non-compliance through calls to doctors, patients and pharmacists.’
What are common compliance breaches?
Compliance safeguards the sustainability of the PBS, with pharmacists acting as the ethical gatekeepers of the scheme to ensure public funds are spent appropriately.
While significant fraud is relatively rare, everyday breaches of the National Health Act 1953 and the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations 2017 are surprisingly frequent.
These include ‘forward dispensing’ – when the pharmacist anticipates the patient coming in and dispenses ahead of request – claiming unused repeats and unauthorised repeats.
Of these, forward dispensing remains the most common – but non-compliant – practice, said Assistant Director of the PBS Compliance Section Hyunji Yoon, who co-presented the session with Mrs Prstec.
‘The dispensed medication then sits on the shelf and, sometimes, when the patient doesn’t collect it, the claim for supply is still submitted.’
If uncollected medications still remain in the pharmacy, pharmacists must cancel those PBS claims, advised Mrs Prstec. ‘You can’t just put the medicine back on the shelf and receive the money, but you would be surprised how many times we see that happening in practice.’
A breach of legislation for claims for unused repeats may occur when a patient changes their treatment, for example. ‘Perhaps the patient is on a certain drug for depression and that doesn’t work so the doctor prescribes a new medicine,’ Ms Yoon said.
‘The patient may keep their prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacist decides why waste the prescription so pushes it through and claims for payment, although supply did not occur.’
Unauthorised repeats may result from patient requests for additional repeats, which were not authorised by the prescriber and the pharmacist fails to obtain authorisation from the prescriber.
The PBS Compliance Section has also detected cases of claims submitted for medicines removed from circulation. ‘That is a major red flag and supply may result in criminal charges,’ Mrs Prstec said.
She told delegates: ‘At the end of the day the PBS is built on supply. If a medicine hasn't been dispensed and supplied to a patient – with a valid prescription, in accordance with the medical practitioner’s instructions – then claiming is non-compliant. Those are the very simple foundations.’
What can get your PBS approval cancelled, and worse?
Systemic non-compliance can lead to criminal prosecution and custodial sentences, financial recovery, loss of PBS approval, reputational damage and disciplinary action.
For example, one pharmacy submitted a large volume of claims using the same authority prescription ID and authority approval ID for prescriptions for different patients and medicines.
The heart medicine Entresto, which attracts a PBS benefit of $100.59, was claimed using authority approval ID 04492022 in 2022. That same approval ID was then used to claim cladribine (a high-value medicine worth $29,000 in PBS benefits) for two different patients in 2024 totalling $117,140 in overpayments of PBS benefits. Over a 30-month period, from January 2022 to June 2024, this pattern of misuse resulted in $1.6M in PBS benefits being overpaid to the pharmacy.
‘This case highlights a serious non-compliant behaviour as authority approval IDs are unique to each prescription,’ Mrs Prstec said. ‘This pharmacist had their PBS approval revoked as a result.’
In another case, four pharmacies, all owned by the same pharmacist, submitted PBS claims for the same prescription for the same patient. ‘Interestingly all these duplicated claims were for high-value items with over $1,000 in PBS benefits,’ she said.
Duodopa gel, a high-cost treatment used in advanced Parkinson’s disease that attracts over $5,000 in PBS benefits, was claimed by all four pharmacies each time a patient presented a prescription for supply at one of those pharmacies. The highest claimed medicine by volume of claims and total government repayment amount was the cancer medicine ibrutinib – totalling 23 claims.
‘This behaviour resulted in a total of $607,000 in PBS benefits being overpaid over a 30-month period,’ Ms Yoon said. ‘Duplicate claiming is not only non-compliant, but also deceptive and undermines the integrity of the PBS. So this pharmacist’s PBS approval was revoked.’
How can pharmacists report non-compliance?
Pharmacists who identify genuine errors may voluntarily acknowledge the issue and repay the incorrect amounts. ‘If something doesn’t seem right, pharmacists should consult the legislation or PBS guidelines,’ Ms Yoon advised.
Tip-offs regarding non-compliance can be submitted anonymously by pharmacy staff, patients, or state regulators. Reports can be made to the Provider Benefits Integrity Hotline 1800 314 808 or online via the Department's Tip-off form.
Providing as much specific information as possible, such as copies of labels or receipts, greatly assists investigations.
Best practice in PBS supply and claiming
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[post_content] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
After last night’s networking event in the jam-packed exhibition hall, factions of pharmacists broke off to attend the Fellows Dinner or the renowned ECP party – with some reconvening again at the Members-only breakfast this morning.
Your trusty Australian Pharmacists reporters made the rounds this morning to document the night shenanigans in words and pictures.
Mixing friends and formulas
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30067,30071,30070,30069,30068"]
What better way to let your hair down after a day of learning that at PSA25 networking event. Pharmacists milled about in the exhibition hall, catching up with colleagues over nibbles and canapés.
‘It's wonderful connecting with friends,’ said Stephanie Johnston FPS.
ECP’s let their hair down
Last night, ECPs got their glow on the Cafe Del Mar – chatting about all things pharmacy in between busting a move.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30075,30077,30076,30074,30073"]
The best part of the ECP party was meeting and networking with other like-minded young pharmacists, said Hannah Barakat MPS, Pharmacy Manager at Bendigo UFS Hargrave Street.
‘I find it really reinvigorating to meeting other people doing fabulous things. It reinforces why I wanted to be a pharmacist!’ she said.
‘It's so good to meet other pharmacists who enjoy being pharmacists and want to do better,’ agreed Katelyn Beattie, the 2025 Victorian Intern Pharmacist of the Year.
‘Reconnecting with people we have met at NAPSA and seeing what they are all doing now. I want to be there (at the ECP party) to soak it up!’
Breakfast with PSA’s national president
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30064,30063,30062"]
Pharmacists rose early to catch breakfast with PSA’s national president, Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS and PSA’s General Manager for Policy and Program Delivery Chris Campbell FPS. At this annual event, PSA members get the opportunity to ask PSA leadership about the direction of the profession and how PSA is steering pharmacists towards it.
New fellows
A highlight of the fellows dinner was the review of fellows and the number of new inductees, said pharmacy legend John Bell FPS.
‘The younger fellows are from a broad range of practice settings, academia, hospital and community, and PSA employees recognised for their contributions over a number of years,’ he said.
[post_title] => PSA25: the place to be!
[post_excerpt] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
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[post_content] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
Australian children are experiencing significant medication-related harm. In the last 6 months alone, around 120,000 Australian children aged 0 to 14 experienced an adverse event due to medicines. And every day more than 45 of the presentations to Australian hospitals of children with medicine-related problems are preventable.
So what’s causing this rise in misadventure and how can pharmacists help to protect children from harm?
A panel of experts, whose skills range from lived experience to poisons information, shed light on the issue on the PSA25 Paediatric safety panel.
What are the risks for young children?
Children aged under 5 are particularly vulnerable as they begin to explore the world around them – often with their mouths. In 2024, around 25% of calls to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre involved this age group, James White, a pharmacist expert at the centre told delegates.
The most commonly ingested medicines were paracetamol, ibuprofen, nappy rash products, vitamin compounds and melatonin. Often, the problem isn’t actually the medicine, but how it’s given.
‘The most common call we receive is about double dosing,’ he said. ‘This is often due to a communication breakdown between carers. It usually peaks in the morning, after the workday and at bedtime – we can map the calls to the times when children are receiving the medicine.’
There is also the use of inappropriate dosing devices, such as using a spoon instead of a dosing syringe to measure liquid, or a parent keeping multiple strengths of paracetamol in the house and giving a child the wrong one. Dosing instructions can also be confusing: ‘3 ml daily for 3 days’ can easily be misread as ‘3 times a day’.
Other times, children get stuck into vitamins that are formulated to taste – and look – like lollies. ‘We get a large number of calls about kids who’ve helped themselves to flavoured multivitamins,’ Mr White said. ‘Most of the time, there isn’t enough in them to cause concern, but iron can be an exception.’
While many of the cases he encounters can be managed at home, the emotional toll on families is significant.
‘Most of the time, [children] recover without needing to go to hospital. But it’s still a very traumatic experience for the child and their parents.’
Some cases are more serious, including one call involving a 4-year-old child who had ingested a THC edible created to resemble a gummy sweet.
‘Cannabis can cause significant seizures and respiratory failure in children, and this child ended up in the emergency department,’ he said. ‘He experienced prolonged sedation and spent multiple days in hospital. With those calls, you’re talking a parent through one of the scariest times of their life.’
What trends are driving harm in older children?
As many medicines are not tested in children prior to entering the market, off-label prescribing for children is common. This makes them potentially susceptible to adverse events as medicines are used outside of their approved age, weight, dose, formulation or administration route.
Children were involved in 9% of incidents reported to Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in the past year, according to Professional Officer Jess Hadley. There was an increase in harm from psychotropic medicines – particularly in female adolescent patients – and clonidine, which is commonly used off-label for ADHD or other behavioural conditions.
‘There has been a two-fold increase in medication for ADHD use in Australia, and obviously with any increase in medications for children there’s an increased risk of error,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We have seen issues where the formulation isn’t appropriate. For example, clonidine can be compounded as a liquid or given as a tablet. If it’s prescribed as a tablet, it requires the parent to halve or quarter the dose – to do that accurately can be difficult.’
‘Pharmacists are autonomous health practitioners and if there is ever a prescription we feel isn’t safe or appropriate for the patient, or a dosage that seems to be outside therapeutic guidelines, it needs to be discussed with the prescriber,’ she added.
Mental health and disability advocate Rachael Burns was raised with an unquestioning faith in the health system. But while navigating intersectional mental and physical health challenges throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, she has been harmed by practices that have been done to her, not with her.
‘My experience with medicines has been a very complex one,’ Ms Burns, now 22, said. ‘I’ve been helped by them but also harmed by them – though not in the ways one might typically expect. I was prescribed a medicine that caused an infection, despite having expressed my concerns about errors in dosing with mental health medicines.’
How can pharmacists help to prevent harm?
A key method community pharmacists can use to help prevent medicine harm in children is reinforcing the basics, Mr White said. This includes reminding patients to keep medicines out of sight of children, discard unused medicines safely, always doublecheck the dose and never leave a child unsupervised around medicines – even for a moment.
‘When basic medicine safety principles aren’t followed, that’s when we see errors,’ he said. ‘We get lots of calls where Mum or Dad popped to the toilet for a second and that’s when the child was able to ingest the medicine. As trusted members of the community, pharmacists can really help to get those messages across. Having the Poisons Information Centre number on hand (13 11 26) and referring patients to this is also important.’
Ms Burns’ experiences with pharmacists – far less than her interactions with doctors – have felt ‘a lot more dignified’.
‘It shouldn’t be a rarity to feel heard. In my interactions with pharmacists, they’ve often been more clear and willing to explain things to me. Respect is important for all patients, no matter how old they are,’ she said.
‘There’s a really important role for pharmacists as allies for children and young people, particularly those with mental health challenges.’
What else needs to change?
PSA’s Medicine safety: child and adolescent care report, released in January this year, recommends five practical changes to help ensure children and adolescents can use medicines they need in a safe and effective manner.
According to Ms Hadley, the recommendation to include a pharmacist on all children’s wards in hospitals is ‘the best place to start’.
‘I’m really confident that would significantly reduce the risk of harm,’ she said.
She also advocates for improved systems to detect and prevent medicine errors. ‘For higher risk medicines, or those more prone to error, there should be a requirement that two healthcare professionals sign off, for example a pharmacist and a nurse,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We also need more standardisation. You might see prednisolone prescribed to a child for asthma, and this is sometimes prescribed as milligrams, sometimes as millilitres – and sometimes it’s written as both. This means the pharmacist needs to convert the dose each time.’
Mr White said the Victorian Poisons Information Centre wholeheartedly supports PSA’s recommendations ‘from an advocacy perspective’ but says there is much more his team could do with the right resources.
‘From a poisons [specialist] perspective, we would recommend more funding. This would mean we could provide more community education, map toxicology trends – we have a lot of information that could be put to use.’
[post_title] => What can be done about paediatric medicine-related harm?
[post_excerpt] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
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[post_content] => A record 38 pharmacists have been inducted as Fellows of the PSA at the annual Fellows Dinner, recognising leadership, advocacy, and service to the profession over an extended period.
PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS congratulated the 2025 cohort, saying: ‘This year’s Fellows showcase the passion, leadership and drive for excellence that define our profession’.
‘Being awarded Fellowship is a recognition of the sustained and outstanding contributions many pharmacists make to PSA and the broader pharmacy profession.
‘On behalf of PSA, I extend my congratulations to each of these remarkable pharmacists, and thank them for their enduring service and dedication to driving our profession forward.’
In addition to 38 Fellows, PSA has also recognised Rhonda White AO and Terry White AO as PSA Life Fellows.
‘In particular I’d like to acknowledge and congratulate Rhonda and Terry White, two stalwarts of Australian pharmacy who we are proud to recognise as Life Fellows of the PSA.
‘Together, Terry and Rhonda have changed the course of Australian pharmacy, championing accessible, patient-centred care and inspiring generations of pharmacists through their leadership.
‘PSA is proud to honour their lifelong dedication to community pharmacy.’
Among the 2025 cohort are a number of PSA staff who have had a significant impact on the pharmacy profession.
‘The PSA team are the backbone of our organisation, working unbelievably hard to support pharmacists across the country. For these members of our team, who are also pharmacists themselves, the drive to make an impact on their profession is particularly strong.
‘Congratulations to Caroyln, Claire, Chris, Quyen, Peter, Jarrod, Kay, Helen and Ella, these recognitions are very well deserved,’ A/Prof Sim said.
Full list of PSA Fellows inducted in 2025:
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[post_content] => PSA’s biggest ever national conference wrapped yesterday (Sunday 3 August) after 3 full days of learning and networking.
The rainy weather didn’t stop more than 1,200 pharmacists from all areas of practice and corners of the country coming together at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC) to further their knowledge and practice with Australia’s leading pharmacy voices.
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If you weren't able to make it down to the conference, Australian Pharmacist has captured some of the best moments.
WA student clinches 2025 Pharmacy Student of the Year
Curtin University student Maxime Watts took out the 2025 PSA Viatris Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY) award, as well as the People’s Choice award – as voted by PSA25 delegates.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30105,30106"]
‘I feel incredibly grateful to receive this recognition,’ Ms Waters told AP. ‘Pharmacy has become something I’m genuinely passionate about, and to have my work acknowledged in this way means so much. I’m looking forward to starting my career and continuing to learn within such a supportive profession.’
Seeing the next generation of pharmacists showcase their skills is a highlight of PSA national conference, said PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS.
‘These are our future pharmacists, our future leaders, and I must say I’m very confident our profession is in good hands,’ she said.
‘Each of the students who participated in the PSOTY competition has demonstrated impressive professionalism, skill, and dedication. On behalf of PSA, I wish them all the best in what I’m sure will be successful and rewarding careers as pharmacists.’
Pharmacist glitterati dazzle at the Gala Dinner
Pharmacists donned sequins, sparkles and feathers at Saturday night’s gala dinner, themed carnivàle.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30103,30104,30107,30108,30109,30110,30111"]
Delegates were transported to downtown Rio, with professional dancers putting on a colorful and acrobatic display – before hitting the dance floor to show off their own moves.
See if you can spot your friends and colleagues in the crowd.
Closing out PSA’s biggest conference ever
To cap off the weekend, PSA and the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA) presented the Outstanding Poster Presentation to Jade Swarbrick for her presentation ADHD in GP settings. The Outstanding Oral Presentation went to Kym Ramsey for his presentation Utilising rural community pharmacists to screen for chronic diseases.
PSA and PDL once again joined forces to present the 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award to Madeline Scarlett, as voted by PSA25 delegates, in recognition of her positivity and helpfulness across the weekend.
Closing the event, PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS highlighted the significance of PSA membership reaching 20,000 for the first time – reflecting the growing confidence pharmacists have in PSA as their professional home.
‘Every year I leave this conference feeling a renewed sense of belonging and passion for this profession,’ she said.
‘Thank you to everyone who made PSA25 a success – our delegates, volunteers, branch committees, staff, speakers and partners – I’m truly inspired by every single one of you.
‘Whether you’re a student, early career pharmacist, or seasoned practitioner, PSA is proud to be your professional home, giving you the tools and the support you need to build the pharmacy career you want.’
See you all again next year at PSA26, held in Sydney at the ICC from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August.
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[post_content] => To ensure PBS claiming practices are compliant, ethical and audit-ready, here’s what every pharmacist should know.
Navigating the legislative and regulatory requirements of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can be challenging. Yet staying informed and compliant is essential to avoid penalties and safeguard public funding.
‘The systems we use to detect non-compliance are continually evolving,’ Karen Prstec, Director of the PBS Compliance Section of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, told delegates at the PSA25 session Stay compliant! Your guide to PBS claiming.
‘We don’t rely solely on digital data; we also investigate non-compliance through calls to doctors, patients and pharmacists.’
What are common compliance breaches?
Compliance safeguards the sustainability of the PBS, with pharmacists acting as the ethical gatekeepers of the scheme to ensure public funds are spent appropriately.
While significant fraud is relatively rare, everyday breaches of the National Health Act 1953 and the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations 2017 are surprisingly frequent.
These include ‘forward dispensing’ – when the pharmacist anticipates the patient coming in and dispenses ahead of request – claiming unused repeats and unauthorised repeats.
Of these, forward dispensing remains the most common – but non-compliant – practice, said Assistant Director of the PBS Compliance Section Hyunji Yoon, who co-presented the session with Mrs Prstec.
‘The dispensed medication then sits on the shelf and, sometimes, when the patient doesn’t collect it, the claim for supply is still submitted.’
If uncollected medications still remain in the pharmacy, pharmacists must cancel those PBS claims, advised Mrs Prstec. ‘You can’t just put the medicine back on the shelf and receive the money, but you would be surprised how many times we see that happening in practice.’
A breach of legislation for claims for unused repeats may occur when a patient changes their treatment, for example. ‘Perhaps the patient is on a certain drug for depression and that doesn’t work so the doctor prescribes a new medicine,’ Ms Yoon said.
‘The patient may keep their prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacist decides why waste the prescription so pushes it through and claims for payment, although supply did not occur.’
Unauthorised repeats may result from patient requests for additional repeats, which were not authorised by the prescriber and the pharmacist fails to obtain authorisation from the prescriber.
The PBS Compliance Section has also detected cases of claims submitted for medicines removed from circulation. ‘That is a major red flag and supply may result in criminal charges,’ Mrs Prstec said.
She told delegates: ‘At the end of the day the PBS is built on supply. If a medicine hasn't been dispensed and supplied to a patient – with a valid prescription, in accordance with the medical practitioner’s instructions – then claiming is non-compliant. Those are the very simple foundations.’
What can get your PBS approval cancelled, and worse?
Systemic non-compliance can lead to criminal prosecution and custodial sentences, financial recovery, loss of PBS approval, reputational damage and disciplinary action.
For example, one pharmacy submitted a large volume of claims using the same authority prescription ID and authority approval ID for prescriptions for different patients and medicines.
The heart medicine Entresto, which attracts a PBS benefit of $100.59, was claimed using authority approval ID 04492022 in 2022. That same approval ID was then used to claim cladribine (a high-value medicine worth $29,000 in PBS benefits) for two different patients in 2024 totalling $117,140 in overpayments of PBS benefits. Over a 30-month period, from January 2022 to June 2024, this pattern of misuse resulted in $1.6M in PBS benefits being overpaid to the pharmacy.
‘This case highlights a serious non-compliant behaviour as authority approval IDs are unique to each prescription,’ Mrs Prstec said. ‘This pharmacist had their PBS approval revoked as a result.’
In another case, four pharmacies, all owned by the same pharmacist, submitted PBS claims for the same prescription for the same patient. ‘Interestingly all these duplicated claims were for high-value items with over $1,000 in PBS benefits,’ she said.
Duodopa gel, a high-cost treatment used in advanced Parkinson’s disease that attracts over $5,000 in PBS benefits, was claimed by all four pharmacies each time a patient presented a prescription for supply at one of those pharmacies. The highest claimed medicine by volume of claims and total government repayment amount was the cancer medicine ibrutinib – totalling 23 claims.
‘This behaviour resulted in a total of $607,000 in PBS benefits being overpaid over a 30-month period,’ Ms Yoon said. ‘Duplicate claiming is not only non-compliant, but also deceptive and undermines the integrity of the PBS. So this pharmacist’s PBS approval was revoked.’
How can pharmacists report non-compliance?
Pharmacists who identify genuine errors may voluntarily acknowledge the issue and repay the incorrect amounts. ‘If something doesn’t seem right, pharmacists should consult the legislation or PBS guidelines,’ Ms Yoon advised.
Tip-offs regarding non-compliance can be submitted anonymously by pharmacy staff, patients, or state regulators. Reports can be made to the Provider Benefits Integrity Hotline 1800 314 808 or online via the Department's Tip-off form.
Providing as much specific information as possible, such as copies of labels or receipts, greatly assists investigations.
Best practice in PBS supply and claiming
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[post_content] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
After last night’s networking event in the jam-packed exhibition hall, factions of pharmacists broke off to attend the Fellows Dinner or the renowned ECP party – with some reconvening again at the Members-only breakfast this morning.
Your trusty Australian Pharmacists reporters made the rounds this morning to document the night shenanigans in words and pictures.
Mixing friends and formulas
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30067,30071,30070,30069,30068"]
What better way to let your hair down after a day of learning that at PSA25 networking event. Pharmacists milled about in the exhibition hall, catching up with colleagues over nibbles and canapés.
‘It's wonderful connecting with friends,’ said Stephanie Johnston FPS.
ECP’s let their hair down
Last night, ECPs got their glow on the Cafe Del Mar – chatting about all things pharmacy in between busting a move.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30075,30077,30076,30074,30073"]
The best part of the ECP party was meeting and networking with other like-minded young pharmacists, said Hannah Barakat MPS, Pharmacy Manager at Bendigo UFS Hargrave Street.
‘I find it really reinvigorating to meeting other people doing fabulous things. It reinforces why I wanted to be a pharmacist!’ she said.
‘It's so good to meet other pharmacists who enjoy being pharmacists and want to do better,’ agreed Katelyn Beattie, the 2025 Victorian Intern Pharmacist of the Year.
‘Reconnecting with people we have met at NAPSA and seeing what they are all doing now. I want to be there (at the ECP party) to soak it up!’
Breakfast with PSA’s national president
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Pharmacists rose early to catch breakfast with PSA’s national president, Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS and PSA’s General Manager for Policy and Program Delivery Chris Campbell FPS. At this annual event, PSA members get the opportunity to ask PSA leadership about the direction of the profession and how PSA is steering pharmacists towards it.
New fellows
A highlight of the fellows dinner was the review of fellows and the number of new inductees, said pharmacy legend John Bell FPS.
‘The younger fellows are from a broad range of practice settings, academia, hospital and community, and PSA employees recognised for their contributions over a number of years,’ he said.
[post_title] => PSA25: the place to be!
[post_excerpt] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
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[post_content] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
Australian children are experiencing significant medication-related harm. In the last 6 months alone, around 120,000 Australian children aged 0 to 14 experienced an adverse event due to medicines. And every day more than 45 of the presentations to Australian hospitals of children with medicine-related problems are preventable.
So what’s causing this rise in misadventure and how can pharmacists help to protect children from harm?
A panel of experts, whose skills range from lived experience to poisons information, shed light on the issue on the PSA25 Paediatric safety panel.
What are the risks for young children?
Children aged under 5 are particularly vulnerable as they begin to explore the world around them – often with their mouths. In 2024, around 25% of calls to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre involved this age group, James White, a pharmacist expert at the centre told delegates.
The most commonly ingested medicines were paracetamol, ibuprofen, nappy rash products, vitamin compounds and melatonin. Often, the problem isn’t actually the medicine, but how it’s given.
‘The most common call we receive is about double dosing,’ he said. ‘This is often due to a communication breakdown between carers. It usually peaks in the morning, after the workday and at bedtime – we can map the calls to the times when children are receiving the medicine.’
There is also the use of inappropriate dosing devices, such as using a spoon instead of a dosing syringe to measure liquid, or a parent keeping multiple strengths of paracetamol in the house and giving a child the wrong one. Dosing instructions can also be confusing: ‘3 ml daily for 3 days’ can easily be misread as ‘3 times a day’.
Other times, children get stuck into vitamins that are formulated to taste – and look – like lollies. ‘We get a large number of calls about kids who’ve helped themselves to flavoured multivitamins,’ Mr White said. ‘Most of the time, there isn’t enough in them to cause concern, but iron can be an exception.’
While many of the cases he encounters can be managed at home, the emotional toll on families is significant.
‘Most of the time, [children] recover without needing to go to hospital. But it’s still a very traumatic experience for the child and their parents.’
Some cases are more serious, including one call involving a 4-year-old child who had ingested a THC edible created to resemble a gummy sweet.
‘Cannabis can cause significant seizures and respiratory failure in children, and this child ended up in the emergency department,’ he said. ‘He experienced prolonged sedation and spent multiple days in hospital. With those calls, you’re talking a parent through one of the scariest times of their life.’
What trends are driving harm in older children?
As many medicines are not tested in children prior to entering the market, off-label prescribing for children is common. This makes them potentially susceptible to adverse events as medicines are used outside of their approved age, weight, dose, formulation or administration route.
Children were involved in 9% of incidents reported to Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in the past year, according to Professional Officer Jess Hadley. There was an increase in harm from psychotropic medicines – particularly in female adolescent patients – and clonidine, which is commonly used off-label for ADHD or other behavioural conditions.
‘There has been a two-fold increase in medication for ADHD use in Australia, and obviously with any increase in medications for children there’s an increased risk of error,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We have seen issues where the formulation isn’t appropriate. For example, clonidine can be compounded as a liquid or given as a tablet. If it’s prescribed as a tablet, it requires the parent to halve or quarter the dose – to do that accurately can be difficult.’
‘Pharmacists are autonomous health practitioners and if there is ever a prescription we feel isn’t safe or appropriate for the patient, or a dosage that seems to be outside therapeutic guidelines, it needs to be discussed with the prescriber,’ she added.
Mental health and disability advocate Rachael Burns was raised with an unquestioning faith in the health system. But while navigating intersectional mental and physical health challenges throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, she has been harmed by practices that have been done to her, not with her.
‘My experience with medicines has been a very complex one,’ Ms Burns, now 22, said. ‘I’ve been helped by them but also harmed by them – though not in the ways one might typically expect. I was prescribed a medicine that caused an infection, despite having expressed my concerns about errors in dosing with mental health medicines.’
How can pharmacists help to prevent harm?
A key method community pharmacists can use to help prevent medicine harm in children is reinforcing the basics, Mr White said. This includes reminding patients to keep medicines out of sight of children, discard unused medicines safely, always doublecheck the dose and never leave a child unsupervised around medicines – even for a moment.
‘When basic medicine safety principles aren’t followed, that’s when we see errors,’ he said. ‘We get lots of calls where Mum or Dad popped to the toilet for a second and that’s when the child was able to ingest the medicine. As trusted members of the community, pharmacists can really help to get those messages across. Having the Poisons Information Centre number on hand (13 11 26) and referring patients to this is also important.’
Ms Burns’ experiences with pharmacists – far less than her interactions with doctors – have felt ‘a lot more dignified’.
‘It shouldn’t be a rarity to feel heard. In my interactions with pharmacists, they’ve often been more clear and willing to explain things to me. Respect is important for all patients, no matter how old they are,’ she said.
‘There’s a really important role for pharmacists as allies for children and young people, particularly those with mental health challenges.’
What else needs to change?
PSA’s Medicine safety: child and adolescent care report, released in January this year, recommends five practical changes to help ensure children and adolescents can use medicines they need in a safe and effective manner.
According to Ms Hadley, the recommendation to include a pharmacist on all children’s wards in hospitals is ‘the best place to start’.
‘I’m really confident that would significantly reduce the risk of harm,’ she said.
She also advocates for improved systems to detect and prevent medicine errors. ‘For higher risk medicines, or those more prone to error, there should be a requirement that two healthcare professionals sign off, for example a pharmacist and a nurse,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We also need more standardisation. You might see prednisolone prescribed to a child for asthma, and this is sometimes prescribed as milligrams, sometimes as millilitres – and sometimes it’s written as both. This means the pharmacist needs to convert the dose each time.’
Mr White said the Victorian Poisons Information Centre wholeheartedly supports PSA’s recommendations ‘from an advocacy perspective’ but says there is much more his team could do with the right resources.
‘From a poisons [specialist] perspective, we would recommend more funding. This would mean we could provide more community education, map toxicology trends – we have a lot of information that could be put to use.’
[post_title] => What can be done about paediatric medicine-related harm?
[post_excerpt] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
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[post_content] => A record 38 pharmacists have been inducted as Fellows of the PSA at the annual Fellows Dinner, recognising leadership, advocacy, and service to the profession over an extended period.
PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS congratulated the 2025 cohort, saying: ‘This year’s Fellows showcase the passion, leadership and drive for excellence that define our profession’.
‘Being awarded Fellowship is a recognition of the sustained and outstanding contributions many pharmacists make to PSA and the broader pharmacy profession.
‘On behalf of PSA, I extend my congratulations to each of these remarkable pharmacists, and thank them for their enduring service and dedication to driving our profession forward.’
In addition to 38 Fellows, PSA has also recognised Rhonda White AO and Terry White AO as PSA Life Fellows.
‘In particular I’d like to acknowledge and congratulate Rhonda and Terry White, two stalwarts of Australian pharmacy who we are proud to recognise as Life Fellows of the PSA.
‘Together, Terry and Rhonda have changed the course of Australian pharmacy, championing accessible, patient-centred care and inspiring generations of pharmacists through their leadership.
‘PSA is proud to honour their lifelong dedication to community pharmacy.’
Among the 2025 cohort are a number of PSA staff who have had a significant impact on the pharmacy profession.
‘The PSA team are the backbone of our organisation, working unbelievably hard to support pharmacists across the country. For these members of our team, who are also pharmacists themselves, the drive to make an impact on their profession is particularly strong.
‘Congratulations to Caroyln, Claire, Chris, Quyen, Peter, Jarrod, Kay, Helen and Ella, these recognitions are very well deserved,’ A/Prof Sim said.
Full list of PSA Fellows inducted in 2025:
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[post_content] => PSA’s biggest ever national conference wrapped yesterday (Sunday 3 August) after 3 full days of learning and networking.
The rainy weather didn’t stop more than 1,200 pharmacists from all areas of practice and corners of the country coming together at Sydney’s International Convention Centre (ICC) to further their knowledge and practice with Australia’s leading pharmacy voices.
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If you weren't able to make it down to the conference, Australian Pharmacist has captured some of the best moments.
WA student clinches 2025 Pharmacy Student of the Year
Curtin University student Maxime Watts took out the 2025 PSA Viatris Pharmacy Student of the Year (PSOTY) award, as well as the People’s Choice award – as voted by PSA25 delegates.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30105,30106"]
‘I feel incredibly grateful to receive this recognition,’ Ms Waters told AP. ‘Pharmacy has become something I’m genuinely passionate about, and to have my work acknowledged in this way means so much. I’m looking forward to starting my career and continuing to learn within such a supportive profession.’
Seeing the next generation of pharmacists showcase their skills is a highlight of PSA national conference, said PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS.
‘These are our future pharmacists, our future leaders, and I must say I’m very confident our profession is in good hands,’ she said.
‘Each of the students who participated in the PSOTY competition has demonstrated impressive professionalism, skill, and dedication. On behalf of PSA, I wish them all the best in what I’m sure will be successful and rewarding careers as pharmacists.’
Pharmacist glitterati dazzle at the Gala Dinner
Pharmacists donned sequins, sparkles and feathers at Saturday night’s gala dinner, themed carnivàle.
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Delegates were transported to downtown Rio, with professional dancers putting on a colorful and acrobatic display – before hitting the dance floor to show off their own moves.
See if you can spot your friends and colleagues in the crowd.
Closing out PSA’s biggest conference ever
To cap off the weekend, PSA and the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA) presented the Outstanding Poster Presentation to Jade Swarbrick for her presentation ADHD in GP settings. The Outstanding Oral Presentation went to Kym Ramsey for his presentation Utilising rural community pharmacists to screen for chronic diseases.
PSA and PDL once again joined forces to present the 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award to Madeline Scarlett, as voted by PSA25 delegates, in recognition of her positivity and helpfulness across the weekend.
Closing the event, PSA National President Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS highlighted the significance of PSA membership reaching 20,000 for the first time – reflecting the growing confidence pharmacists have in PSA as their professional home.
‘Every year I leave this conference feeling a renewed sense of belonging and passion for this profession,’ she said.
‘Thank you to everyone who made PSA25 a success – our delegates, volunteers, branch committees, staff, speakers and partners – I’m truly inspired by every single one of you.
‘Whether you’re a student, early career pharmacist, or seasoned practitioner, PSA is proud to be your professional home, giving you the tools and the support you need to build the pharmacy career you want.’
See you all again next year at PSA26, held in Sydney at the ICC from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August.
[post_title] => Rain fails to dampen PSA’s most successful conference yet
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[post_content] => To ensure PBS claiming practices are compliant, ethical and audit-ready, here’s what every pharmacist should know.
Navigating the legislative and regulatory requirements of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) can be challenging. Yet staying informed and compliant is essential to avoid penalties and safeguard public funding.
‘The systems we use to detect non-compliance are continually evolving,’ Karen Prstec, Director of the PBS Compliance Section of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, told delegates at the PSA25 session Stay compliant! Your guide to PBS claiming.
‘We don’t rely solely on digital data; we also investigate non-compliance through calls to doctors, patients and pharmacists.’
What are common compliance breaches?
Compliance safeguards the sustainability of the PBS, with pharmacists acting as the ethical gatekeepers of the scheme to ensure public funds are spent appropriately.
While significant fraud is relatively rare, everyday breaches of the National Health Act 1953 and the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations 2017 are surprisingly frequent.
These include ‘forward dispensing’ – when the pharmacist anticipates the patient coming in and dispenses ahead of request – claiming unused repeats and unauthorised repeats.
Of these, forward dispensing remains the most common – but non-compliant – practice, said Assistant Director of the PBS Compliance Section Hyunji Yoon, who co-presented the session with Mrs Prstec.
‘The dispensed medication then sits on the shelf and, sometimes, when the patient doesn’t collect it, the claim for supply is still submitted.’
If uncollected medications still remain in the pharmacy, pharmacists must cancel those PBS claims, advised Mrs Prstec. ‘You can’t just put the medicine back on the shelf and receive the money, but you would be surprised how many times we see that happening in practice.’
A breach of legislation for claims for unused repeats may occur when a patient changes their treatment, for example. ‘Perhaps the patient is on a certain drug for depression and that doesn’t work so the doctor prescribes a new medicine,’ Ms Yoon said.
‘The patient may keep their prescription at the pharmacy, the pharmacist decides why waste the prescription so pushes it through and claims for payment, although supply did not occur.’
Unauthorised repeats may result from patient requests for additional repeats, which were not authorised by the prescriber and the pharmacist fails to obtain authorisation from the prescriber.
The PBS Compliance Section has also detected cases of claims submitted for medicines removed from circulation. ‘That is a major red flag and supply may result in criminal charges,’ Mrs Prstec said.
She told delegates: ‘At the end of the day the PBS is built on supply. If a medicine hasn't been dispensed and supplied to a patient – with a valid prescription, in accordance with the medical practitioner’s instructions – then claiming is non-compliant. Those are the very simple foundations.’
What can get your PBS approval cancelled, and worse?
Systemic non-compliance can lead to criminal prosecution and custodial sentences, financial recovery, loss of PBS approval, reputational damage and disciplinary action.
For example, one pharmacy submitted a large volume of claims using the same authority prescription ID and authority approval ID for prescriptions for different patients and medicines.
The heart medicine Entresto, which attracts a PBS benefit of $100.59, was claimed using authority approval ID 04492022 in 2022. That same approval ID was then used to claim cladribine (a high-value medicine worth $29,000 in PBS benefits) for two different patients in 2024 totalling $117,140 in overpayments of PBS benefits. Over a 30-month period, from January 2022 to June 2024, this pattern of misuse resulted in $1.6M in PBS benefits being overpaid to the pharmacy.
‘This case highlights a serious non-compliant behaviour as authority approval IDs are unique to each prescription,’ Mrs Prstec said. ‘This pharmacist had their PBS approval revoked as a result.’
In another case, four pharmacies, all owned by the same pharmacist, submitted PBS claims for the same prescription for the same patient. ‘Interestingly all these duplicated claims were for high-value items with over $1,000 in PBS benefits,’ she said.
Duodopa gel, a high-cost treatment used in advanced Parkinson’s disease that attracts over $5,000 in PBS benefits, was claimed by all four pharmacies each time a patient presented a prescription for supply at one of those pharmacies. The highest claimed medicine by volume of claims and total government repayment amount was the cancer medicine ibrutinib – totalling 23 claims.
‘This behaviour resulted in a total of $607,000 in PBS benefits being overpaid over a 30-month period,’ Ms Yoon said. ‘Duplicate claiming is not only non-compliant, but also deceptive and undermines the integrity of the PBS. So this pharmacist’s PBS approval was revoked.’
How can pharmacists report non-compliance?
Pharmacists who identify genuine errors may voluntarily acknowledge the issue and repay the incorrect amounts. ‘If something doesn’t seem right, pharmacists should consult the legislation or PBS guidelines,’ Ms Yoon advised.
Tip-offs regarding non-compliance can be submitted anonymously by pharmacy staff, patients, or state regulators. Reports can be made to the Provider Benefits Integrity Hotline 1800 314 808 or online via the Department's Tip-off form.
Providing as much specific information as possible, such as copies of labels or receipts, greatly assists investigations.
Best practice in PBS supply and claiming
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[post_content] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
After last night’s networking event in the jam-packed exhibition hall, factions of pharmacists broke off to attend the Fellows Dinner or the renowned ECP party – with some reconvening again at the Members-only breakfast this morning.
Your trusty Australian Pharmacists reporters made the rounds this morning to document the night shenanigans in words and pictures.
Mixing friends and formulas
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What better way to let your hair down after a day of learning that at PSA25 networking event. Pharmacists milled about in the exhibition hall, catching up with colleagues over nibbles and canapés.
‘It's wonderful connecting with friends,’ said Stephanie Johnston FPS.
ECP’s let their hair down
Last night, ECPs got their glow on the Cafe Del Mar – chatting about all things pharmacy in between busting a move.
[gallery type="flexslider" size="full" ids="30075,30077,30076,30074,30073"]
The best part of the ECP party was meeting and networking with other like-minded young pharmacists, said Hannah Barakat MPS, Pharmacy Manager at Bendigo UFS Hargrave Street.
‘I find it really reinvigorating to meeting other people doing fabulous things. It reinforces why I wanted to be a pharmacist!’ she said.
‘It's so good to meet other pharmacists who enjoy being pharmacists and want to do better,’ agreed Katelyn Beattie, the 2025 Victorian Intern Pharmacist of the Year.
‘Reconnecting with people we have met at NAPSA and seeing what they are all doing now. I want to be there (at the ECP party) to soak it up!’
Breakfast with PSA’s national president
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Pharmacists rose early to catch breakfast with PSA’s national president, Associate Professor Fei Sim FPS and PSA’s General Manager for Policy and Program Delivery Chris Campbell FPS. At this annual event, PSA members get the opportunity to ask PSA leadership about the direction of the profession and how PSA is steering pharmacists towards it.
New fellows
A highlight of the fellows dinner was the review of fellows and the number of new inductees, said pharmacy legend John Bell FPS.
‘The younger fellows are from a broad range of practice settings, academia, hospital and community, and PSA employees recognised for their contributions over a number of years,’ he said.
[post_title] => PSA25: the place to be!
[post_excerpt] => The PSA25 social calendar is always jam packed. And this year, at the biggest national conference yet, certainly didn’t disappoint.
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[post_content] => Too many Australian children are being harmed by medicine misadventure. Here’s what pharmacists must do now.
Australian children are experiencing significant medication-related harm. In the last 6 months alone, around 120,000 Australian children aged 0 to 14 experienced an adverse event due to medicines. And every day more than 45 of the presentations to Australian hospitals of children with medicine-related problems are preventable.
So what’s causing this rise in misadventure and how can pharmacists help to protect children from harm?
A panel of experts, whose skills range from lived experience to poisons information, shed light on the issue on the PSA25 Paediatric safety panel.
What are the risks for young children?
Children aged under 5 are particularly vulnerable as they begin to explore the world around them – often with their mouths. In 2024, around 25% of calls to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre involved this age group, James White, a pharmacist expert at the centre told delegates.
The most commonly ingested medicines were paracetamol, ibuprofen, nappy rash products, vitamin compounds and melatonin. Often, the problem isn’t actually the medicine, but how it’s given.
‘The most common call we receive is about double dosing,’ he said. ‘This is often due to a communication breakdown between carers. It usually peaks in the morning, after the workday and at bedtime – we can map the calls to the times when children are receiving the medicine.’
There is also the use of inappropriate dosing devices, such as using a spoon instead of a dosing syringe to measure liquid, or a parent keeping multiple strengths of paracetamol in the house and giving a child the wrong one. Dosing instructions can also be confusing: ‘3 ml daily for 3 days’ can easily be misread as ‘3 times a day’.
Other times, children get stuck into vitamins that are formulated to taste – and look – like lollies. ‘We get a large number of calls about kids who’ve helped themselves to flavoured multivitamins,’ Mr White said. ‘Most of the time, there isn’t enough in them to cause concern, but iron can be an exception.’
While many of the cases he encounters can be managed at home, the emotional toll on families is significant.
‘Most of the time, [children] recover without needing to go to hospital. But it’s still a very traumatic experience for the child and their parents.’
Some cases are more serious, including one call involving a 4-year-old child who had ingested a THC edible created to resemble a gummy sweet.
‘Cannabis can cause significant seizures and respiratory failure in children, and this child ended up in the emergency department,’ he said. ‘He experienced prolonged sedation and spent multiple days in hospital. With those calls, you’re talking a parent through one of the scariest times of their life.’
What trends are driving harm in older children?
As many medicines are not tested in children prior to entering the market, off-label prescribing for children is common. This makes them potentially susceptible to adverse events as medicines are used outside of their approved age, weight, dose, formulation or administration route.
Children were involved in 9% of incidents reported to Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in the past year, according to Professional Officer Jess Hadley. There was an increase in harm from psychotropic medicines – particularly in female adolescent patients – and clonidine, which is commonly used off-label for ADHD or other behavioural conditions.
‘There has been a two-fold increase in medication for ADHD use in Australia, and obviously with any increase in medications for children there’s an increased risk of error,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We have seen issues where the formulation isn’t appropriate. For example, clonidine can be compounded as a liquid or given as a tablet. If it’s prescribed as a tablet, it requires the parent to halve or quarter the dose – to do that accurately can be difficult.’
‘Pharmacists are autonomous health practitioners and if there is ever a prescription we feel isn’t safe or appropriate for the patient, or a dosage that seems to be outside therapeutic guidelines, it needs to be discussed with the prescriber,’ she added.
Mental health and disability advocate Rachael Burns was raised with an unquestioning faith in the health system. But while navigating intersectional mental and physical health challenges throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, she has been harmed by practices that have been done to her, not with her.
‘My experience with medicines has been a very complex one,’ Ms Burns, now 22, said. ‘I’ve been helped by them but also harmed by them – though not in the ways one might typically expect. I was prescribed a medicine that caused an infection, despite having expressed my concerns about errors in dosing with mental health medicines.’
How can pharmacists help to prevent harm?
A key method community pharmacists can use to help prevent medicine harm in children is reinforcing the basics, Mr White said. This includes reminding patients to keep medicines out of sight of children, discard unused medicines safely, always doublecheck the dose and never leave a child unsupervised around medicines – even for a moment.
‘When basic medicine safety principles aren’t followed, that’s when we see errors,’ he said. ‘We get lots of calls where Mum or Dad popped to the toilet for a second and that’s when the child was able to ingest the medicine. As trusted members of the community, pharmacists can really help to get those messages across. Having the Poisons Information Centre number on hand (13 11 26) and referring patients to this is also important.’
Ms Burns’ experiences with pharmacists – far less than her interactions with doctors – have felt ‘a lot more dignified’.
‘It shouldn’t be a rarity to feel heard. In my interactions with pharmacists, they’ve often been more clear and willing to explain things to me. Respect is important for all patients, no matter how old they are,’ she said.
‘There’s a really important role for pharmacists as allies for children and young people, particularly those with mental health challenges.’
What else needs to change?
PSA’s Medicine safety: child and adolescent care report, released in January this year, recommends five practical changes to help ensure children and adolescents can use medicines they need in a safe and effective manner.
According to Ms Hadley, the recommendation to include a pharmacist on all children’s wards in hospitals is ‘the best place to start’.
‘I’m really confident that would significantly reduce the risk of harm,’ she said.
She also advocates for improved systems to detect and prevent medicine errors. ‘For higher risk medicines, or those more prone to error, there should be a requirement that two healthcare professionals sign off, for example a pharmacist and a nurse,’ Ms Hadley said.
‘We also need more standardisation. You might see prednisolone prescribed to a child for asthma, and this is sometimes prescribed as milligrams, sometimes as millilitres – and sometimes it’s written as both. This means the pharmacist needs to convert the dose each time.’
Mr White said the Victorian Poisons Information Centre wholeheartedly supports PSA’s recommendations ‘from an advocacy perspective’ but says there is much more his team could do with the right resources.
‘From a poisons [specialist] perspective, we would recommend more funding. This would mean we could provide more community education, map toxicology trends – we have a lot of information that could be put to use.’
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Australian Pharmacist is the official journal for Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Ltd.
