Tue 6 October 2026

Policy and Advocacy impact: September 2026

September saw AdPha continue its advocacy on safety and quality in health care, pharmacist scope of practice and workforce development, ensuring the expertise of pharmacists practising in hospitals and other complex, team-based care settings is recognised across national and state policy.

A key focus was the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's second round of consultation on the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards 3rd Edition. The revised Standards streamline the previous eight standards into three, with medication safety now sitting within the Safe Clinical Systems Standard. Drawing on broad member consultation, AdPha's response advocated for stronger medicines governance, credentialing that keeps pace with evolving scopes of practice, and a shift towards genuine continuous improvement.

AdPha also responded to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' final consultation on the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA). Building on its April 2026 submission, AdPha lodged a follow-up submission on the Hospital Pharmacist classification (OSCA 263432). The submission reiterated that prescribing should be recognised as a distinct main task rather than tied to any particular model. It also sought alignment with the Community Pharmacist definition, which already names prescribing as a main task, so that the classification accurately reflects the current and evolving scope of hospital pharmacist practice.

In Victoria, Rhujul Patel, Senior Policy Analyst, represented AdPha at a Victorian Medicines Formulary stakeholder consultation workshop on statewide formulary reform. AdPha expressed support for the development of a state formulary and drew on Safer Care Victoria's environmental scanning survey report to highlight the opportunity for greater consistency in medicines access and use across Victorian health services.

Throughout September, AdPha worked to strengthen the recognition of pharmacists' expertise in national standards, workforce classifications and state medicines reform, advocating for frameworks that enable pharmacists to practise to their full scope and deliver safe, high-quality care for all Australians.