Bills Digest no. 159 2004–05
Health Legislation Amendment (Australian Community Pharmacy
Authority) Bill 2005
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Health Legislation Amendment
(Australian Community Pharmacy Authority) Bill 2005
Date Introduced: 11 May 2005
House: Representatives
Portfolio: Health and Ageing
Commencement: On Royal Assent, except that
Schedule 1, item 1 commences on 13 January 2005 (the day the
provision being corrected commenced).
This Bill
proposes to amend the National Health Act 1953 to extend,
until 31 December 2005, the existing arrangements for approving
pharmacists to provide medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme (PBS).
The Bill also proposes a technical amendment
to the Health Legislation Amendment (Podiatric Surgery and
Other Matters) Act 2004 to correct a misdescription.
The Australian Community
Pharmacy Authority (ACPA) is the body authorised under the
National Health Act 1953 (the Act) to consider and make
recommendations in relation to applications by pharmacists to
supply medicines under the PBS.
ACPA is required to consider all applications
against location-based criteria which must be satisfied in order
for a pharmacist to obtain approval to supply PBS medicines from
particular premises. These criteria are set out in what are known
as the Pharmacy Location Rules and apply both to the establishment
of a new pharmacy or relocation of an existing pharmacy. The
Pharmacy Location Rules are determined by the Minister for Health
and Ageing in accordance with the Act.(1)
The Pharmacy Location Rules were established
as part of the Third Community Pharmacy Agreement between the
Commonwealth and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which commenced
on 1 July 2000 and will end on 30 June 2005. The purpose of the
Location Rules is twofold: first, to provide widespread community
access to pharmaceutical services, and second, to ensure the
continued viability of existing pharmacies.
The Location Rules have been somewhat
controversial since their introduction, with some commentators and
interest groups suggesting that they are a source of insufficient
competition within the pharmacy sector.(2) The Rules are
being reviewed as part of negotiations between the Government and
the Pharmacy Guild of Australia for the Fourth Community Pharmacy
Agreement.(3)
The Fourth Agreement is due to commence on 1
July 2005.
Under the Location Rules concerning
new pharmacies, approval of a pharmacist must be
recommended if the applicant has a legal right to occupy those
premises for the purpose of operating a pharmacy and:
-
those premises are situated at least 1.5 kilometres, by straight
line measurement, from the nearest other premises in respect of
which a pharmacist is approved to supply pharmaceuticals under the
PBS; and
-
ACPA is satisfied that there is a definite community need for
pharmaceutical services in the area in which those premises are
situated;
or
-
those premises are situated at least 10 kilometres, measured
door to door by the shortest lawful access route, from the nearest
other premises in respect of which a pharmacist is approved to
supply pharmaceutical under the PBS; and
-
those premises are situated in a location classified as being in
a remote area of need.(4)
Regulations concerning
relocation of existing pharmacies are more complex
than those for new pharmacies and, in summary, include regulations
related to:
-
the minimum distance between pharmacies;
-
whether the proposed pharmacy is to be in an area classified as
being in a remote area of need;(5)
-
the need for pharmaceutical services in the area in which the
proposed premises are situated (measured in terms of existence of
other such services in the area, adequacy of other such services in
the area, income levels, population and extent of public transport
in a particular area);
-
the number of pharmacies that can exist within a large shopping
centre .
In addition to these restrictions, the
Minister for Health and Ageing released a Determination on 12
August 2004, amending Pharmacy Location Rules to prevent pharmacies
which are located within, adjacent to, or connected to, a
supermarket, and to which members of the public
have direct access from within the premises of the supermarket,
from being approved to supply pharmaceutical
benefits.(6) The amendment also defines what constitutes
a supermarket.
Provisions for the Pharmacy Location Rules and
ACPA will no longer be in force after 30 June 2005. As noted above,
the Locations Rules are currently being reviewed by the Government
and the Pharmacy Guild as part of negotiations for the Fourth
Community Pharmacy Agreement.
According to the Government, the purpose of
the review is:
[T]o evaluate the net public benefit of the
[Pharmacy Location] Rules in terms of achieving their policy
objectives, identify any significant anomalies in their application
and administration and report on alternatives to remedy any such
deficiencies and anomalies.(7)
While the review is expected to report before
30 June 2005, the Government says that it will require further time
to consider and make decisions in relation to the findings and
recommendations of the review .(8)
Therefore, the purpose of the Bill is to make
time for consideration of the review findings by extending the
arrangements relating to the Location Rules and ACPA until 31
December 2005.
While, as noted above,
issues related to the Community Pharmacy Agreement (including the
location rules) have been somewhat controversial, the measures
contained in the Bill are relatively procedural and have not
attracted significant public commentary or analysis.
The Bill also proposes to make an amendment to
the Health Legislation Amendment (Podiatric Surgery and Other
Matters) Act 2004. This amendment is to correct a misdescribed
amendment in the Act and, according to the Government, is minor and
technical in nature.(9) It is unrelated to the pharmacy
location measures described above.
Item 2 proposes to amend
subsection 90 (3C) of the National Health Act 1953 so that
subsections relating to the role of APCA in approving applications
to supply pharmaceutical benefits will continue in force until the
end of 31 December 2005 unless sooner repealed.
Item 3 proposes to amend
subsection 99Y to provide that provisions relating to the
establishment, membership and functions of the ACPA, and the
requirement for the Minister to determine the rules with which ACPA
must comply in making its recommendations, will continue in force
until the end of 31 December 2005.
Item 1 proposes to amend Item
11 of Schedule 1 to the Health Legislation Amendment (Podiatric
Surgery and Other Matters) Act 2004 to correct a
grammatical misdescription.
Concluding comments
As noted above, a review of Pharmacy Location
Rules is currently taking place as part of negotiations between the
Government and the Pharmacy Guild for the Fourth Community Pharmacy
Agreement. Given the controversy surrounding these rules, the
outcome of the review will be eagerly anticipated by various
stakeholders, including the pharmacy sector, the supermarket
sector, consumer groups, and medical profession
representatives.
Nevertheless, as also noted above, the
proposal contained in the Bill to extend the arrangements for
approving pharmacists to supply PBS medicines is essentially
procedural and hence has not attracted significant public
commentary or analysis.
Further, the proposal to make an amendment to
the Health Legislation Amendment (Podiatric Surgery and Other
Matters) Act 2004 to correct a misdescribed amendment is also
apparently minor and technical in nature and hence
uncontroversial.
-
A consolidated version of the Pharmacy Location Rules can be
accessed from the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority website
at:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pbs-general-pharmacy-acpa-consdeterm.htm
(accessed 22 May 2005).
-
See for example, Mark Metherell, Pharmacy profits hit a nerve ,
Sydney Morning Herald, 16 May 2005; Bill Glasson, Getting
tough on turf , Australian Doctor, 18 February, 2005;
Allan Fels and Fred Brenchley, Dispense some competition to the
pharmacies , Sydney Morning Herald, 8 April 2004; Janet
Albrechtsen, Strip these white coats of subsidies ,
Australian, 1 September 2004.
-
Hon. Tony Abbott, Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement,
media release, 18 April 2005.
-
This is measured in relation to category 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 in the
PhARIA index. The PhARIA (or Pharmacy Access/Remoteness Index seeks
to provide a comprehensive, standardised measurement of the
physical and professional remoteness of pharmacies throughout
Australia. It is used for such matters as identifying the rural or
urban status of locations for the purposes of Rules 6A and 6B
(exceptional circumstances), Rule 5(b) (new rural approvals) and
also determining eligibility for rural and remote pharmacy
allowances.
-
See note 4.
-
Pharmaceutical Benefits Determination under Subsection 99L
(1), No. PB 14 of 2004.
-
Explanatory Memorandum, Health Legislation Amendment (Australian
Community Pharmacy Authority) Bill 2005, p. 1.
-
ibid.
-
ibid., p. 2.
Luke Buckmaster
23 May 2005
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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Australian Parliament using information available at the time of
production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position
of the Information and Research Service, nor do they constitute
professional legal opinion.
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2005
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Published by the Parliamentary Library, 2005.
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