Pharmacy Business Ownership Bill 2023
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill replaces Queensland's 20-year-old pharmacy ownership law with a modern licensing and regulatory framework. It establishes the Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council as an independent body to oversee who can own pharmacies, introduces mandatory annual licensing, and strengthens protections against commercial interference in pharmacy health services.
Who it affects
Pharmacy business owners must now obtain and renew licences annually from the new council. The general public benefits from stronger oversight, a public register of pharmacies and their services, and rules ensuring pharmacists make health decisions free from commercial pressure.
Key changes
- Mandatory annual licensing for all pharmacy business owners, replacing the previous informal notification system
- New independent Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council established to regulate pharmacy ownership, replacing Queensland Health in this role
- Pharmacies prohibited from being located in or directly accessible from supermarkets (with limited grandfathering for existing pharmacies)
- Third parties banned from controlling how pharmacies provide medicine and health services, with penalties of up to 200 penalty units
- Public register of pharmacy businesses and their services to be maintained and published online
- Annual compliance audit reports must be published by the council
- Existing pharmacy owners have one to two years to obtain a licence under the new framework
Bill Story
The journey of this bill through Parliament, including debate and recorded votes.
▸Committee30 Nov 2023View Hansard
Referred to Health and Environment Committee
The Cost of Living and Economics Committee (which took carriage from the former Economics and Governance Committee) examined the Pharmacy Business Ownership Bill 2023 over several months, receiving submissions from pharmacy owners, industry bodies, medical organisations, and consumer groups. The committee recommended the bill be passed, finding that while its ownership restrictions and new regulatory framework raised fundamental legislative principle and human rights considerations, these were reasonable and proportionate. Stakeholder views were divided, with pharmacy owners broadly supportive but medical bodies and the Productivity Commission questioning the evidence base for ownership restrictions as potentially anticompetitive.
Key findings (5)
- Pharmacy business owners and industry groups broadly supported the bill, but the Australian Medical Association Queensland, RACGP, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council, and Productivity Commission questioned the evidence base for ownership restrictions, arguing they are anticompetitive and may not improve accessibility or affordability of pharmacy services.
- The committee found that the bill's restrictions on human rights — including rights to property, privacy, equality, and fair hearing — were reasonable and proportionate, given the aim of ensuring independently owned pharmacies continue to serve their communities.
- Stakeholders raised significant concerns about the definition of 'material interest', arguing it was insufficiently broad to prevent corporate entities from circumventing ownership requirements through complex legal and financial arrangements.
- The new prohibition on pharmacies being located in or directly accessible from supermarkets brings Queensland into line with most other Australian jurisdictions, though some stakeholders including the Health Ombudsman questioned whether this restriction serves consumer interests.
- A subset of pharmacy owners opposed the bill entirely, arguing it imposes undue compliance burdens and that the existing 2001 Act should have been amended rather than repealed and replaced.
Recommendations (1)
- The committee recommends the Pharmacy Business Ownership Bill 2023 be passed.
Committee report tabled
▸Second Reading19 Mar 2024View Hansard
▸20 members spoke19 support1 mixed
As minister, introduced the bill to modernise pharmacy ownership regulation, establish an independent regulatory council, and maintain ownership restrictions ensuring pharmacies remain in the hands of pharmacists.
“The Miles Labor government strongly believes in the importance of maintaining the 'community' in community pharmacy, which is why we are dedicated to maintaining pharmacy ownership restrictions and establishing a robust regulatory council to continue to support the sector.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Confirmed the LNP will not oppose the bill, while criticising the six-year delay in implementing the 2018 committee recommendations and raising concerns about anti-competitive consequences and compliance burdens on small businesses.
“At the outset I can advise that the LNP will not be opposing the bill.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as an overdue overhaul of pharmacy ownership regulation, while flagging concerns about anti-competitiveness and compliance burdens on small businesses.
“I want to be on the record as supporting this legislation because I support the work of the pharmacists, the pharmacy owners and their staff across each and every community I have the privilege of representing.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
As committee chair, endorsed the bill as a cost-of-living measure that prevents big corporate interests from amassing market power and protects community pharmacies focused on patient care.
“On this side of the House we want professionals who are dedicated to a vocation to look after the elderly and chronically unwell first.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill while acknowledging concerns from the AMA, RACGP, and Aboriginal and Islander Health Council about anti-competitive provisions and calling for diligent implementation and review.
“It is therefore vital that appropriate legislation and regulatory frameworks are in place to ensure that the operation and management of pharmacies are fit for purpose and reflect the modern needs of Queensland communities.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as implementing the legislative amendments required from the 2018 committee inquiry, particularly the establishment of the Pharmacy Business Ownership Council and new location restrictions.
“I believe most consumers are supportive of the rationale for these restrictions. Pharmacies are a key delivery point of important health services and the need for professionalism and patients' interests before profit are paramount.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Did not oppose the bill but expressed significant scepticism that the ownership restrictions would address corporatisation, noting fewer pharmacies per head of population since restrictions were introduced and the rise of Chemist Warehouse.
“Twenty years on from the implementation of this current system, we have less access to community pharmacies, less access to primary health care and an increasingly corporatised and monopolistic pharmacy sector.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as maintaining community ownership restrictions and ensuring patient safety, praising the role of community pharmacists during COVID and in ongoing healthcare delivery.
“I am proud to be part of a government that is implementing appropriate and sensible ownership restrictions in the pharmacy space.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
As a committee member, outlined the bill's policy objectives and the extensive consultation process, supporting the new regulatory framework and ownership restrictions.
“Our government is committed to ensuring our community pharmacies can continue to provide world-class health care to Queenslanders.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as ensuring community pharmacy ownership by pharmacists, sharing personal stories of pharmacist care and highlighting the vaccinations in pharmacy program.
“That is why I am pleased the bill will support the community pharmacy model by retaining and strengthening the requirements for pharmacy businesses to be primarily owned by pharmacists or pharmacist-led corporations.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill while noting concerns raised by AMA Queensland and QAIHC about anti-competitive impacts and the bill's effect on Aboriginal community controlled health services.
“Whilst the opposition does not oppose the bill, it should be noted that stakeholders, including AMA Queensland, have raised serious concerns about the bill.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as a cost-of-living measure that ensures Queenslanders can access trusted, quality pharmacy advice with no underlying business pressures from corporate ownership.
“Queenslanders rightly expect that the only thing a pharmacy employee or pharmacist will recommend is what is right for that patient, what is right for that Queenslander, and what their studies have said will work.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported community pharmacies and the bill while criticising the nearly six-year delay in bringing the legislation to the House and calling for reduction of regulatory burden on small businesses.
“We on this side of the chamber love our community pharmacists. Community pharmacists are the people who keep rural and regional Queensland ticking.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Strongly supported the bill as protecting family-owned pharmacies from large conglomerates, drawing parallels with the loss of small greengrocers to supermarket chains.
“Making sure that those family owned and locally owned pharmacies continue, without the competition of large conglomerate pharmacy organisations coming in to take over in the space which is enjoyed by those family owned businesses, is very good.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill while noting potential anti-competitive concerns and compliance burdens, and committed to monitoring the bill's implementation.
“The LNP will not be opposing this bill, but we continue to call on the state government to place small and family businesses at the forefront of every decision this government makes because small and family businesses are the backbone of our community.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as maintaining the community pharmacy model, arguing against deregulation which would prioritise profitability over patient care.
“If the pharmacy sector was deregulated, as many right-wing think tanks have argued, pharmacies would be focused instead on high volumes and low margins to maximise profitability and drive shareholder returns at the expense of more service and patient focused traditional community pharmacies.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as enshrining the independence and primacy of professionalism in pharmacy care, opposing accumulation of pharmacies by corporate entities.
“Overall, this is a good bill that enshrines what we in this House know to be important—that is, the independence and the primacy of professionalism and care focused on the client that pharmacies currently give.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as moving to an independent regulatory model that keeps community interests and safety at the forefront of pharmacy ownership regulation.
“A pharmacy is not a business with the sole purpose of making money; it doubles as a community service that provides patients with professional advice and life-saving medication.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
Supported the bill as protecting small community pharmacies from multinational takeover, while criticising the government's delay in bringing the legislation forward.
“We want to ensure these small businesses in our communities have an assurance that they will not be taken over by multinationals.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard
As Leader of the Opposition, confirmed LNP support for the bill, emphasising the importance of maintaining the community in community pharmacy and praising pharmacists' role during COVID.
“Like my colleagues on this side of the House, I like the 'community' in community pharmacy.”— 2024-03-19View Hansard