Australia’s Health Workforce Series Pharmacists in...

HWA | Australia’s Health Workforce Series – Pharmacists in Focus1

Australia’s Health Workforce SeriesPharmacists in FocusMarch 2014


© Health Workforce Australia.

This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or part for study or training purposes. Subject to an acknowledgement of the source, reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above, or not in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, requires the written permission of Health Workforce Australia (HWA).

Enquiries concerning this report and its reproduction should be directed to:

Health Workforce Australia Post | GPO Box 2098, Adelaide SA 5001Telephone | 1800 707 351 Email | [email protected] Internet | www.hwa.gov.au

Suggested citation: Health Workforce Australia [2014]: Australia’s Health Workforce Series – Pharmacists in Focus


Contents

Introduction 4

About HWA 4

What is a pharmacist? 5

How are pharmacists trained? 5

Associations 6

Regulatory and Accreditation bodies 6

What is known about this workforce? 7

Data sources and limitations 7

National Health Workforce Dataset: Pharmacists 8

ABS Census of Population and Housing 20

ABS Labour Force Survey 29

Workforce inflows 30

Students 30

Immigration 33

How can workforce activity be measured? 35

Pharmacy workforce planning projections 35

Methodology 35

What issues have stakeholders identified for the pharmacy workforce? 36

What were the jurisdiction views? 36

What were the associations’ views? 37

HWA’s assessment of this workforce 38

Existing workforce position assessment 38

Existing workforce position assessment scale 39

Workforce dynamics indicator 40

How do pharmacists compare with other registered health occupations? 42

What does the analysis show? 44

Appendix one – Pharmacists by Medicare Local regions 46


Introduction

About HWA

Health Workforce Australia (HWA) is a Commonwealth statutory authority established to build a sustainable health workforce that meets Australia’s healthcare needs. HWA leads the implementation of national and large scale reform, working in collaboration with health and higher education sectors to address the critical priorities of planning, training and reforming Australia’s health workforce.

Australia’s health system is facing significant challenges, including an ageing population and an ageing health workforce; changing burden of disease, in particular a growing level of chronic disease; and increased demand for health services with higher numbers of people requiring complex and long-term care. To achieve HWA’s goal of building a sustainable health workforce that meets Australia’s healthcare needs, health workforce planning is essential – and in health workforce planning, understanding the number and characteristics of the existing health workforce is the essential first step.

Australia’s Health Workforce Series describes particular professions, settings and issues of interest to aid workforce planning. This issue of Australia’s Health Workforce Series examines pharmacists, bringing together available information to describe the pharmacist workforce, including number and characteristics, potential data sources to measure workforce activity, and an analysis based on information presented.

This publication is divided into four main parts:

1. What is a pharmacist – a brief overview of the pharmacist role and training pathway, and descriptions of the key regulatory bodies and peak associations.

2. What is known about the pharmacist workforce – presentation of data from different sources, describing the number and characteristics of the workforce, student and migration inflows into the workforce, and potential data sources that could be used to measure workforce activity.

3. What issues are expected to impact supply and/or demand for pharmacists – a summary of issues obtained through stakeholder consultation.

4. HWA’s assessment of the workforce – including an assessment of existing workforce position (whether workforce supply matches demand for services or not); presentation of a set of workforce dynamics indicators, used to highlight aspects of the current workforce that may be of concern into the future; and a comparison of the pharmacist workforce’s key characteristics with other health workforces.


What is a pharmacist?

Pharmacists use their expertise in medicines to optimise health outcomes and minimise medication misadventure. They apply their knowledge of medicines to promote their safe use and avoid harm to users and others in the community. A sound pharmaceutical knowledge base, effective problem-solving, organisational, communication and interpersonal skills, together with an ethical and professional attitude, are essential to the practice of pharmacy1.

The practice of pharmacy includes the custody, preparation, dispensing and provision of medicines, together with systems and information to assure quality of use.

The role of a pharmacist encompasses counselling patients on the best use of medicines, providing advice on symptoms, the management of common ailments, preparing and formulating medications, possible medication side-effects and drug interactions, and providing health education.

Pharmacists provide primary healthcare including education and advice to promote good health and to reduce the incidence of illness.

Most pharmacists work in community pharmacies, with some owning their own pharmacy or partnership. They also work in public and private hospitals and related services. In hospitals, pharmacists often work as part of the healthcare team to optimise the use of medicines for individuals; they also undertake activities including formulating medicine-related policy and protocols, and the education of hospital staff. Pharmacists can be accredited to provide medication management review (MMR) services to consumers in their home and in residential aged care facilities. Many accredited MMR pharmacists work independently, others concurrently work within a community or hospital pharmacy.

Pharmacists also work in primary care settings such as medical centres, Aboriginal health services and Medicare Locals.

In addition, a number of pharmacists are employed by pharmaceutical companies in drug research and regulatory activities, governments and the military, professional organisations, or by universities and TAFE institutes2.

Pharmacy is a registered health profession under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS). Therefore a practitioner must be registered with the Pharmacy Board of Australia to practice as a pharmacist.

How are pharmacists trained?

To become a pharmacist, a person generally needs to complete an accredited program of study, either a Bachelor of Pharmacy; or a postgraduate pharmacy qualification. At time of publication there are 17 accredited pharmacy schools in Australia and two in New Zealand3.

Following completion of studies, provisional registration as a pharmacist is obtained and a person must then complete an accredited Intern Training Program (ITP), which currently comprises 1,824 hours of supervised practice. Upon successful completion of the ITP and successful completion of written and oral examinations set by the Pharmacy Board of Australia, a person can apply for general registration as a pharmacist.

Exceptions to this are overseas-trained pharmacists who have been assessed as having equivalent skills and qualifications to an Australian-trained pharmacist, and have obtained registration with the Pharmacy Board of Australia; and pharmacists who completed their training prior to the implementation of the NRAS, and joined the register under transitional arrangements.

1 National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia 2010. Accessed 1 March 2013 at http://www.psa.org.au/download/standards/competency-standards-complete.pdf

2 The Job Guide Website http://www.jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au/occupation/Pharmacist/NSW. Accessed 10 October 2012.3 Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website. http://www.ahpra.gov.au/Education/Approved-Programs-of-Study.aspx?ref=Pharmacist.

Accessed 17 February 2014


Associations

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)

PSA is the peak national professional pharmacy organisation representing pharmacists working in Australia. PSA’s core business is practice improvement in pharmacy through providing continuing professional development and practice support4.

The Society of Hospital Pharmacists Australia (SHPA)

The SHPA is the professional body which represents pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and associates practising in all parts of the Australian health system. SHPA specialises in advocacy for the professional interests of hospital pharmacists and technicians, as well as those delivering a full range of professional pharmacy services such as medication management review services across the entire health system5.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia

The Guild is the national pharmacy organisation representing community pharmacy. It strives to promote, maintain and support community pharmacies as accessible primary providers of healthcare to the community, through optimum therapeutic use of medicines, medicines management and related services.

Australian Pharmacy Liaison Forum

This forum is an independent coalition of representatives from pharmacy organisations, who work together on issues of national importance to the pharmacy profession and the public.

Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA)

PPA is the pharmacy division of Professionals Australia, and is a union that represents non-owner pharmacists who work in community pharmacies across Australia6.

Regulatory and Accreditation bodies

Pharmacy Board of Australia

Responsibilities of the Board include registering pharmacists, provisional pharmacists (interns) and students, developing standards, codes and guidelines for the pharmacy profession, handling notifications, complaints, investigations and disciplinary hearings, approving accreditation standards and accredited courses of study7.

Australian Pharmacy Council (APC)

The APC is the current accreditation authority responsible for Australian pharmacists. The APC accredits education providers and programs of study, conducts written examinations on behalf of the Board; and assesses overseas-trained pharmacists and international students graduating from Australian pharmacy programs, to determine their eligibility to apply to commence the registration process.

4 The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia website http://www.psa.org.au/about. Accessed 10 October 2012.5 The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia website http://www.shpa.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=SHPA/ccms.r?PageId=3. Accessed 14 November 2012.6 The Professional Pharmacists Australia website http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/groups/pharmacists/home/. Accessed 6 November 2013.7 The Pharmacy Board of Australia website http://www.pharmacyboard.gov.au/About.aspx. Accessed 10 October 2012.


What is known about this workforce?

In workforce planning, the first key step is to understand the existing workforce. In this section, information is presented from a range of sources to describe the existing size and characteristics of the pharmacist workforce.

Data sources and limitations

National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS)

The NHWDS combines data from the NRAS with pharmacy workforce survey data collected at the time of annual registration renewal. The pharmacy workforce survey is administered through the national registration body, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), on behalf of Health Workforce Australia. The pharmacy NHWDS was collected for the first time in 2011, with data for 2011 and 2012 presented in this report. The overall response rate to the pharmacy workforce survey was 77.1 per cent in 2011 and 86.8 per cent in 2012. Before the NHWDS, the last survey of the registered pharmacy workforce conducted through the (then) state and territory registration boards was in 1999. The NHWDS is collected using a different survey methodology to that previous survey, and comparisons are not recommended. As it is a new collection, the NHWDS shows the current characteristics of the pharmacy workforce.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing

The census is a descriptive count of everyone who is in Australia on one night, and of their dwellings. Its objective is to accurately measure the number and key characteristics of people who are in Australia on census night, and of the dwellings in which they live. Information in the census is self-reported, meaning information is dependent on individuals’ understanding and interpretation of the questions asked. For example, when reporting occupation, a person may self-report as working in a particular occupation, but not necessarily be appropriately qualified/meet registration standards (where a registrable profession). However the census is able to provide a picture of the changing size and characteristics of the reported pharmacy workforce over time, which is not currently available through the NHWDS.

ABS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

The ABS LFS provides estimates of the civilian labour force derived from the LFS component of the monthly population survey. As a sample survey, limited detailed information is available to describe the characteristics of people in each occupation. The LFS is better used for determining broad trends over time.

Department of Education (DE)

The DE conducts the Higher Education Statistics Collection, which provides a range of information on the provision of higher education in all Australian universities. Information on tertiary course commencements and completions by field of education is presented in this publication. Cautions to note with the DE data include:

• Information may include courses allocated to the pharmacy field of education that do not lead to registration as a pharmacist. That is, it may include students in non-accredited courses.

• The accuracy of coding courses to field of education is the responsibility of each university, and is subject to the knowledge of those allocating the codes.

• Information includes combined courses where the course has been allocated to two fields of education. Combined courses are courses designed to lead to a single combined award or to meet the requirements of more than one award.


Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)

DIBP information is administrative by-product data, reporting the number of temporary and permanent visa applications granted to pharmacists.

National Health Workforce Dataset: Pharmacists

As noted earlier, the annual NHWDS for pharmacists was first collected in 2011. Information is collected from pharmacists at the time of their annual registration renewal (for most practitioners, registration renewal is due in October and November). In this section, information focuses on describing the number and characteristics of employed pharmacists in 2011 and 2012.

Please note, in the NHWDS, the term ‘employed’ means a practitioner who worked for a total of one hour or more in the week before the survey in a job or business (including own business) for pay, commission, payment in kind or profit; or usually worked but was on leave for less than three months, or on strike or locked out, or rostered off.

Labour force status

In 2012 there were 27,025 pharmacists and provisional pharmacists registered in Australia (figure 1), with the majority (84 per cent or 22,676) in the pharmacy labour force (either working, looking for work, or on extended leave). Of those in the pharmacy labour force, most (94 per cent or 21,331 pharmacists) were working at the time of the survey. Within this, approximately four out of five pharmacists were working as clinicians – practitioners who spend the majority of their time undertaking activities related to the diagnosis, care, and treatment, including recommending preventative action, of patients or clients either in the primary care or hospital setting. This includes pharmacists conducting medication reviews and managers also providing clinical services.

Of the 27,025 persons registered with the Board in 2012, seven per cent (1,945) held provisional registration, that is, they have completed their accredited pharmacy degree and are undertaking an ITP. Before obtaining general registration, the Pharmacy Board of Australia requires graduates successfully complete an ITP, which currently comprises 1,824 hours of supervised practice; and pass a written and oral examination. Pharmacists must obtain provisional registration before they can commence this period of supervised practice.


Figure 1: Registered pharmacists by labour force status, 2012

Source: NHWDS: allied health practitioners 2012

Total pharmacy registrations27,025

In pharmacy labour force22,676 (83.9%)

Provisional registrants1,945 (7.2%)

Employed in pharmacy21,331 (94.1%) Employed elsewhere and not

looking for work in pharmacy711 (29.6%)

Clinician17,097 (80.2%) Not employed and not looking

for work510 (21.2%)

Administrator 1,909 (8.9%)

Overseas742 (30.9%)

Teacher/educator 342 (1.6%)

Retired441 (18.3%)

Researcher212 (1.0%)

Independent consultant 251 (7.1%)

Other 1,521 (1.2%)

On extended leave1,072 (4.7%)

Looking for work in pharmacy272 (1.2%)

Not in pharmacy labour forcce2,404 (8.9%)


Age and gender

In 2012 there were 21,331 registered pharmacists employed in pharmacy in Australia, an increase of 3.6 per cent (or 751 pharmacists) from 2011 (table 1). Females accounted for most of this growth, increasing by 548 from 2011 to 2012, more than double the increase in male pharmacists (203) over the same period.

Table 1: number of employed pharmacists by gender, 2011 and 2012

2011 2012 % increase

Male 8,713 8,916 2.3

Female 11,867 12,415 4.6

Persons 20,580 21,331 3.6

% Female 57.7 58.2 . .

Source: NHWDS: allied health practitioners 2011 and 2012

The average age of employed pharmacists was approximately 40 years in both 2011 and 2012. Female pharmacists have a younger average age, and a lower percentage aged over 55, than male pharmacists. The relatively large number of female pharmacists in the 25-29 and 30-34 age cohorts, which results in this younger age profile, is clearly shown in figures 2 and 3.

Table 2: employed pharmacists, age profile by gender, 2011 and 2012

Average age (years) Percentage aged 55 and over

2011 2012 2011 2012

Male 42.8 42.2 23.8 22.5

Female 37.9 37.8 12.4 12.5

Persons 39.9 39.7 17.2 16.7



Figure 2: number of employed pharmacists by age cohort and gender, 2011


Figure 3: number of employed pharmacists by age cohort and gender, 2012

4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000

< 25

25 - 29

30 - 34

35 - 39

40 - 44

45 - 49

50 - 54

55 - 59

60 - 64

65+

Male Female

Number

Age (yrs)

4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000

< 25

25 - 29

30 - 34

35 - 39

40 - 44

45 - 49

50 - 54

55 - 59

60 - 64

65+

Number

Age (yrs) Male Female



Hours worked

Pharmacists worked an average of 35.9 hours per week in both 2011 and 2012. In both years, male pharmacists had higher average weekly hours than female pharmacists (by approximately five hours).

Table 3: employed pharmacists, average weekly hours worked and full-time equivalent by gender, 2011 and 2012

2011 2012

Average weekly hours Full-time equivalent(a) Average weekly hours Full-time equivalent(a)

Males 38.8 8,891 38.8 9,113

Females 33.8 10,562 33.7 11,025

Persons 35.9 19,453 35.9 20,137

(a) FTE calculated on a 38 hour week


Figure 4 shows the majority of both male and female pharmacists worked between 35 – 49 hours per week. One in every three pharmacists (33 per cent or 7,003) worked part-time (less than 35 hours per week). Higher percentages of females working part-time and higher percentages of males working more than 49 hours per week can clearly be seen in figure 4, and is reflected in the average hours worked shown in table 3.


Figure 4: employed pharmacists by total weekly hours worked, 2012


Years worked

In 2012, pharmacists had worked in pharmacy in Australia for an average of 15 years (table 4). Pharmacists employed as independent consultants and administrators had the highest number of years in the pharmacy workforce, at 22 years and 21 years worked respectively. This potentially reflects career pathways – with more experienced pharmacists becoming independent consultants or moving into administration. While average years worked by pharmacists working in these roles were higher than average years worked by clinicians, pharmacists working in administrative and consultancy roles only represented approximately 10 per cent of employed pharmacists in both 2011 and 2012, so had little effect on the total average years worked.

There was relatively little change in pharmacists’ years worked between 2011 and 2012 (table 4).

9.9

14.1

57.9

16.4

1.8

16.6

22.7

52.9

7.3

0.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

< 20 20 - 34 35 - 49 50 - 64 65 +

% o

f em

plo

yed

pha

rmac

ists

Total weekly hours worked

Males

Females


Table 4: employed pharmacists, average years worked by principal role, 2011 and 2012

Principal role 2011 2012

Clinician 14.9 14.5

Administrator 23.0 21.0

Teacher or educator 18.7 19.9

Researcher 16.2 14.2

Independent consultant n.a. 22.5

Other 14.6 14.8

Total 15.6 15.3

n.a. not available


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status

Few employed pharmacists reported as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status (table 5).

Table 5: number of employed pharmacists reporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, 2011 and 2012

2011 2012

Male 25 17

Female 23 18

Persons 48 36

% of all employed pharmacists 0.2 0.2


Table 6 shows selected characteristics of those pharmacists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. Pharmacists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status had an average age of 35 years in 2011 and 37 years in 2012 (table 6). In both years the average age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacists was lower than the average for the total workforce (as shown in table 2, this was 40 years in both 2011 and 2012).

In 2012, pharmacists of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status worked an average of 40 hours per week, higher than the workforce average of 36 hours shown in table 3.

Care should be taken when interpreting these figures due to the small number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners.


Table 6: employed pharmacists reporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, average age and average hours worked, 2011 and 2012

Average age (years) Average hours worked

2011 2012 2011 2012

Male 38.7 36.7 40.3 45.1

Female 30.6 36.5 29.0 34.5

Persons 34.8 36.6 34.8 39.7


Country of first qualification

In 2012, 86 per cent (18,446 pharmacists) of the pharmacy workforce earned their first pharmacy qualification in Australia.

The characteristics of overseas-trained pharmacists from countries other than New Zealand differed to those of Australian-trained pharmacists, with:

• A higher average age (43 years compared with 39 for Australian-trained).

• A slightly higher percentage aged over 55 years.

• A substantially lower percentage of females (approximately 50 per cent, compared to 59 per cent for Australian-trained pharmacists).

Table 7: selected characteristics of employed pharmacists by country of first qualification, 2012

Country of initial qualification Number Average age % aged 55+ % female

Average weekly hours

worked FTE(a)

Australia 18,446 39.2 16.5 59.4 35.8 17,359

New Zealand 585 40.8 18.5 51.1 35.8 552

Other countries

2,131 43.0 17.7 49.6 36.8 2066

Not stated/inadequately described

169 38.3 12.4 62.1 36.1 161

Total 21,331 39.7 16.7 58.2 35.9 20,137




Sector and setting

Table 8 shows the number of pharmacists undertaking clinical work in the public and private sectors in 2012. A higher number of pharmacists worked in the private sector, which reflects the high percentage of the workforce employed in community pharmacies (shown in table 9).

Pharmacists may undertake clinical work in both the private and public sector. Full-time equivalent calculations account for hours worked in each sector, and show that almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of pharmacists’ clinical work is in the private sector.

Table 8: employed pharmacists undertaking clinical work by sector, 2012

Public Private

Number 5,554 15,006

Clinical FTE(a) 4,254 12,071



Almost two-thirds of employed pharmacists (63 per cent or 13,454) worked in community pharmacy in 2012. A further 18 per cent (3,762 pharmacists) worked in a hospital setting (table 9).

Table 9: Number of employed pharmacists by work setting of main job, 2011 and 2012

Setting2011 2012 % change

2011 to 2012Number Number % of total

Community pharmacy 13,091 13,454 63.1 2.8

Hospital 3,590 3,762 17.6 4.8

Community healthcare service 515 574 2.7 11.5

Medical centre 367 427 2.0 16.3

Other private practice 277 414 1.9 49.5

Educational facility 341 358 1.7 5.0

Other government department or agency 257 288 1.4 12.1

Pharmaceutical manufacturing 238 283 1.3 18.9

Other commercial/business service 220 260 1.2 18.2

Residential healthcare facility 158 159 0.7 0.6

Defence force 83 73 0.3 -12.0

Wholesale pharmacy 46 42 0.2 -8.7


Setting2011 2012 % change

2011 to 2012Number Number % of total

Correctional services 33 27 0.1 -18.2

Aboriginal health service 16 15 0.1 -6.3

Other 337 365 1.7 8.3

Inadequately described/not stated 1,012 828 3.9 -18.2

Total 20,580 21,331 100.0 3.6


Employed pharmacists average weekly hours worked varied by work setting, ranging from a low of 33 hours in other private practice to a high of 40 hours in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Additional to those in pharmaceutical manufacturing, pharmacists working in Aboriginal health services and community healthcare service settings also had substantially higher average weekly hours (39 and 38 hours respectively) than the workforce average (figure 5). Figure 5: employed pharmacists, average weekly hours worked by work setting, 2012


32.7

33.1

33.1

33.3

34.3

35.7

35.7

35.9

36.3

36.4

36.6

36.6

37.8

39.2

40.2

0 10 20 30 40 50

Other private practice

Residential health care facility

Other

Defence forces

Medical centre

Hospital

Other government dept/agency

Community pharmacy

Other commercial/business service

Correctional services

Wholesale pharmacy

Educational facility

Community health care service

Aboriginal health services

Pharmaceutical manufacturing

National average (35.9)

Average weekly hours worked


Distribution

Information from the NHWDS on the distribution of the pharmacist workforce is based on survey respondents’ reported location of main job.

State and territory

In 2012, the majority of employed pharmacists were located in the more highly populated states of New South Wales (31 per cent), Victoria (26 per cent) and Queensland (20 per cent).

The number of pharmacists per 100,000 population was lowest in the Northern Territory, which at 66.8 pharmacists per 100,000 population was much lower than the national average of 93.9. Pharmacists located in the Northern Territory also had a younger age profile and higher average weekly hours worked than the national average.

The number of pharmacists increased in each state and territory from 2011 to 2012, with the largest percentage increases occurring in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory (table 10).

Table 10: selected characteristics of employed pharmacists by state and territory, 2011 and 2012

NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS NT ACT AUS

2012

Number 6,584 5,465 4,197 1,625 2,376 554 157 373 21,331

No. per 100,000 population

90.2 97.1 91.9 98.1 97.7 108.1 66.8 99.5 93.9

Average age 41.1 39.9 38.8 38.4 37.5 40.6 34.9 40.1 39.7

% aged 55 and over 20.2 16.8 14.6 14.7 11.9 19.3 6.4 16.7 16.7

Average hours worked 36.0 35.4 36.0 35.7 36.3 34.6 40.0 36.8 35.9

% female 57.9 57.8 58.2 58.3 59.8 55.4 60.5 62.2 58.2

2011

Number 6,331 5,348 4,073 1,540 2,278 525 144 339 20,580


87.7 96.6 91.0 93.9 96.8 102.6 62.3 92.1 92.1

% change in number 2011 to 2012

4.0 2.2 3.0 5.5 4.3 5.5 9.0 10.0 3.6

Source: NHWDS: allied health practitioners 2011 and 2012, ABS, Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2012, cat. no. 3101.0.

Remoteness area

The remoteness area (RA) structure is a geographic classification system produced by the ABS and is used to present regional data. The RA categories are defined in terms of the physical distance of a location from the nearest urban centre (access to goods and services) based on population size.

A measure of workforce availability is the ratio between the number of pharmacists and an area’s population (noting there is no agreed ideal workforce to population ratio).


In 2012, the pharmacy workforce was concentrated in major cities, with a rate of 101.6 pharmacists per 100,000 population. Very remote areas had the lowest concentration of pharmacists, with 39.8 per 100,000 population. However, very remote areas also had the largest percentage increase of pharmacists between 2011 and 2012 (of almost one-fifth) between the two years (table 11).

Table 11: selected characteristics of employed pharmacists by remoteness area, 2011 and 2012

Major cities

Inner regional

Outer regional Remote(a)

Very remote(a) Australia

2012

Number 16,225 3,301 1,506 197 82 21,331


101.6 79.3 73.6 61.8 39.8 93.9

Average age 39.3 41.3 39.6 39.6 40.9 39.7

% aged 55 and over 15.7 20.5 18.9 16.8 20.4 16.7

Average hours worked 35.7 35.9 37.3 39.6 42.9 35.9

% female 59.9 52.6 53.9 51.8 51.2 58.2

2011

Number 15,681 3,157 1,468 189 69 20,580


100.0 76.8 72.4 60.1 33.9 92.1


3.5 4.6 2.6 4.2 18.8 3.6

(a) Care should be taken when interpreting the figures for remote and very remote areas due to the relatively small number of employed pharmacists who reported their location of main job was in these regions.

Source: NHWDS: allied health practitioners 2011 and 2012, ABS, Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2012, cat. no. 3218.0.

Medicare Local regions

In 2011 the Australian government established 61 Medicare Locals across Australia. The Commonwealth government funds these organisations to plan, fund and deliver healthcare services at a local level, with each Medicare Local covering a defined geographic area.

Table 12 shows the Medicare Local regions with the highest and lowest rate of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population, by primary place of work (a full list of Medicare Locals is included as appendix 1). Please note, data in this table shows the number of pharmacists per 100,000 population working in the relevant Medicare Local region, and provides a useful refection of the geographical distribution of pharmacists – it does not reflect pharmacists employed by Medicare Local organisations.

As can be expected, Medicare Local regions with the highest rate of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population were in capital cities, while most of the Medicare Local regions with the lowest rate of employed pharmacists were located in regional and remote areas. The concentration of pharmacists in capital cities reflects both population distribution and the location of major employers of pharmacists, such as major hospitals.


Table 12: number of employed pharmacists, number per 100,000 population by selected Medicare Local regions, 2012

Highest Lowest

State/Territory Medicare Local Rate State/

Territory Medicare Local Rate

VIC Inner North West Melbourne 206.1 WA Kimberley – Pilbara 49.1

NSW Eastern Sydney 179.3 VIC South Western Melbourne 51.6

WA Perth Central and East Metro 171.2 NSW Far West NSW 57.1

SA Central Adelaide and Hills 147.0 QLDCentral and North West Queensland

58.0

NSW Sydney North Shore and Beaches 131.2 WA Goldfields – Midwest 60.0

Source: NHWDS: allied health practitioners 2012, ABS, Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2012, cat. no. 3101.0

ABS Census of Population and Housing

While the NHWDS provides a picture of the number and characteristics of the current pharmacist workforce, historical information showing trends in the pharmacy workforce is not available from this source (although as it is an annual collection, this is a short-term issue only). Census information is self-reported, so people may report that they are a pharmacist without being a registered practitioner. However, the census provides a picture of the changing number and characteristics of the reported pharmacist workforce, which is not currently available through the NHWDS.

In the census, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) is used to publish occupation statistics. In ANZSCO, there are three detailed categories of pharmacists, all requiring registration or licensing:

1. Hospital pharmacists – prepare and dispense pharmaceuticals, drugs and medicines in a hospital pharmacy.

2. Industrial pharmacists – conduct research, testing and analysis related to the development, production, storage, quality control and distribution of drugs and related supplies.

3. Retail pharmacists – dispense prescribed pharmaceuticals to the public, educate customers on health promotion, disease prevention and the proper use of medicines, and sell non-prescription medicines and related goods in a community pharmacy. In practice, retail pharmacists are commonly called community pharmacists.

Over the last four census years, approximately 80 per cent of all pharmacists were retail (or community) pharmacists (figure 6). Given this, the fact the education pathway to become a pharmacist is the same regardless of practice setting after qualification, and the fact that NHWDS data is presented for all pharmacists, census information for pharmacists is examined in total rather than at the detailed category level.

Please note, information is presented for people who self-reported as employed pharmacists in the census (regardless of level of education). This includes those people working for an employer or conducting their own business, including those with their own incorporated company as well as sole traders, partnerships and contractors. Also, the ABS randomly adjusts cells to avoid the release of confidential data, so there can be slight discrepancies in totals when comparing census tables.


Figure 6: employed pharmacists by type of pharmacist, 1996 to 2011

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 1996 to 2011

Age and gender

The number of employed pharmacists increased substantially from 1996 to 2011 (by approximately 7,600, table 13). Almost all of this increase was due to an increase in the number of employed female pharmacists, which doubled from 1996 to 2011 (up 103 per cent or 6,017 pharmacists). This increase in female participation is consistent with increases in female participation across other occupations.

Table 13: number of employed pharmacists by gender, 1996 to 2011

1996 2001 2006 2011 % increase1996 to 2011

Males 6,438 6,751 6,754 8,049 25.0

Females 5,870 7,215 8,582 11,887 102.5

Persons 12,308 13,966 15,336 19,936 62.0

% female 47.7 51.7 56.0 59.6 . .

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 to 2011

The pharmacy workforce has a relatively young age profile. Between 1996 and 2011 the percentage of the workforce aged over 55 years fell from approximately 22 per cent to 14 per cent. Most of this was due to males aged over 55 years falling as a percentage of the workforce – from approximately one in three in 1996 to one in five in 2011.

Average age information for 1996 was not readily available, however with the substantial fall in the percentage of the workforce aged 55 years and over, it can be expected that the average age also fell from 1996 to 2011 (table 14).

0

20

40

60

80

100

1996 2001 2006 2011

Per

cent

of

all p

h arm

a cis

ts

Retail pharmacist Hospital pharmacist Industrial pharmacist


Table 14: employed pharmacists, age profile by gender, 1996 and 2011

Average age Per cent aged 55 and over

1996 2011 1996 2011

Males n.a 40.7 32.8 20.0

Females n.a 36.2 11.7 10.7

Persons n.a 38.0 21.8 14.4

n.a. not available

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 and 2011

The changing gender profile and high percentages of younger pharmacists is reflected in figures 7 to 10, which show a detailed age and gender breakdown of employed pharmacists for each selected census year. In particular, strong growth in the number of females aged below 35 entering the profession between 2006 and 2011 can clearly be seen in figure 10.

Figure 7: number of employed pharmacists by age and gender, 1996


Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 1996 Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2001

3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000

< 25

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Number

Age (yrs)Male Female

3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000

< 25

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Number




Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006 Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2011

3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000

< 25

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Number


3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000

< 25

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65+

Number



Hours worked

Average weekly hours worked have reduced substantially, by over five hours per week from 1996 (39.2) to 2011 (34.1). This fall is primarily the result of a fall in male average weekly hours (a decrease of seven hours, from 44.6 to 37.6), with female average weekly hours falling less than two hours (33.3 to 31.8) over the same period (figure 11). Figure 11: employed pharmacists, average weekly hours worked, 1996 and 2011

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 and 2011

44.6

33.3

39.2

37.6

31.8 34

.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

snosrePselameFselaM

Ave

rag

e w

eek

ly h

ou

rs

1996 2011


Reductions in average weekly hours worked occurred across all age groups for both males and females from 1996 to 2011 (figures 12 and 13). For males, the largest falls occurred in the less than 25 (a drop of 8.1 hours) and 55-64 (7.9 hours) age cohorts. For females, the largest fall occurred in the less than 25 cohort (a drop of 4.8 hours).

41.0

46.2

48.0

47.1

42.8

32.0

32.9

39.8

40.6

41.4

34.9

24.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

<25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Ave

rag

e w

eekl

y h

our

s

1996 Males 2011 Males

38.4

35.7

30.4 33

.0

29.6

25.4

33.6

34.1

28.4 31

.2

28.6

22.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

<25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Ave

rag

e w

eekl

y ho

urs

1996 Females 2011 Females

Figure 12: employed male pharmacists by age and average hours worked, 1996 and 2011

Figure 13: employed female pharmacists by age and average hours worked, 1996 and 2011

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 and 2011 Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 and 2011

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status

While the number of employed pharmacists reporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status has remained low, relative to the 1996 level there has been a substantial increase to 2011 (table 15).

Table 15: number of employed pharmacists by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, 1996 to 2011

1996 2001 2006 2011

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 3 12 15 33

Non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 12,264 13,896 15,254 19,845

Total(a) 12,320 13,959 15,335 19,934 (a) Includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status not stated

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 1996 to 2011.

Country/region of birth

While most employed pharmacists were born in Australia, the percentage of those born in Australia fell almost 20 percentage points from 1996 (76 per cent) to 2011 (58 per cent). Over the same period, the number of overseas-born pharmacists from the Maritime South-East Asia and Chinese Asia regions tripled, while the number of pharmacists from Mainland South-East Asia also increased sharply (table 16).


Table 16: employed pharmacists – top five countries/regions of birth, 1996 and 2011

1996 2011

Country/region of birth Number % Country/region of birth Number %

Australia 9,309 75.8 Australia 11,558 58.0

United Kingdom 559 4.6 Maritime South-East Asia 1,498 7.5

Mainland South-East Asia 347 2.8 Chinese Asia 1,251 6.3

Maritime South-East Asia 314 2.6 Mainland South-East Asia 1,008 5.1

Chinese Asia 276 2.2 United Kingdom 673 3.4

Other countries(a) 1,478 12.0 Other countries(a) 3,953 19.8

Total 12,283 100.0 Total 19,941 100.0

(a) Includes inadequately described and not stated.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 1996 and 2011

Education

While the NHWDS provides insight into the roles and work settings that registered pharmacists are employed in, it does not provide information on the levels of qualification held by pharmacists. Census data provides an indicator of the types of qualifications held by those who self-reported as a pharmacist, and also provides information about the occupation of those who have qualifications in pharmacy but are not working as pharmacists.

Table 17 shows the number of people who reported their highest level of qualification in pharmacy, by the type of qualification and the occupation they reported as working in at the time of the census.

Most people with their highest level of qualification in pharmacy reported a bachelor degree as their highest level of qualification (17,945 pharmacists or 69 per cent).

Those with their highest level of qualification in pharmacy most commonly reported an occupation of ‘professional’ (18,386), and within this, almost all reported an occupation of pharmacist (16,984).

It should be noted current registration standards generally require a pharmacist to have completed an accredited qualification in pharmacy (refer to ‘how are optometrists trained?’). Those people who self-reported as a pharmacist with an advanced diploma or diploma (126) or a certificate (62) as their highest level of qualification may have gained registration under transitional arrangements during the implementation of the NRAS, or may not actually meet current registration standards to be recognised as a pharmacist.


Table 17: employed persons, highest level of qualification in pharmacy, by type of qualification and occupation, 2011

Highest level of qualification

OccupationPostgraduate

degree

Graduate diploma and

graduate certificate

Bachelor degree

Advanced diploma and

diploma Certificate Total(a)

Managers 199 155 878 52 244 1,624

Professionals 1,758 910 15,160 165 130 18,386

Pharmacists 1,440 795 14,343 126 62 16,984

Sales workers 45 111 433 57 934 1,898

Other occupations 172 339 1,474 140 1,399 4,072

Total 2,174 1,515 17,945 414 2,707 25,980

(a) Includes level of education inadequately described and level of education not stated.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2011

Sector and industry of employment

In all selected census years the majority of pharmacists were employed in the private sector; which reflects the large percentage of the workforce employed in retail and community pharmacy settings (table 18). The percentage of pharmacists employed in the private sector remained relatively steady in each selected census year (at approximately 85 per cent).

The number of pharmacists employed by commonwealth and state and territory governments increased from 1996 to 2011. In particular, there was a sharp increase in the number of pharmacists employed by state and territory governments between 2006 and 2011 – of 56 per cent or 949 pharmacists.

Table 18: number of employed pharmacists by sector of employment, 1996 to 2011

Sector 1996 2001 2006 2011

Commonwealth government 128 162 221 249

State and territory government 1,540 1,587 1,701 2,650

Private 10,559 12,161 13,370 16,989

Total(a) 12,312 14,033 15,335 19,940

(a) Includes local government and sector not stated.

Source: ABS Population of Census and Housing 1996 to 2011

Consistent with most pharmacists working in the private sector, most worked in retail trade, representing pharmacists working in community pharmacies (table 19). The increase in the number working in hospitals likely accounts for the increase in those employed in state and territory government (shown in table 18).


Table 19: number of employed pharmacists by industry, 1996 to 2011

Industry 1996 2001 2006 2011

Retail trade 9,544 10,809 11,520 14,852

Healthcare and social assistance 1,770 1,754 2,568 3,447

Hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals) 1,500 1,415 2094 3,031

Other healthcare and social assistance 270 339 474 416

Manufacturing 402 606 377 599

Other industries 617 735 867 1,043

Total 12,333 13,904 15,332 19,941

Source: ABS Population of Census and Housing 1996 to 2011

Distribution

Information from the census on the distribution of the pharmacist workforce is based on place of usual residence (not place of work).

State and territory

The number of employed pharmacists across states and territories generally reflects population size. In 2011, approximately three-quarters of employed pharmacists were located in the more highly populated states of New South Wales (30 per cent), Victoria (26 per cent) and Queensland (20 per cent).

From 2006 to 2011, New South Wales experienced the largest increase in the number of employed pharmacists (1,193), while Western Australia experienced the greatest percentage increase (45 per cent).

The number of employed pharmacists and the rate of pharmacists per 100,000 population increased in all states and territories between 2006 and 2011 (table 20).

Table 20: selected characteristics of employed pharmacists by state and territory, 2006 and 2011


2011

Number 6,013 5,243 4,026 1,514 2,189 523 114 312 19,941


83.3 94.7 89.9 92.3 93.0 102.3 49.3 84.8 89.3

Average age 39.4 38.5 36.9 36.9 36.2 39.6 30.9 39.0 38.1

% aged 55 and over 17.9 14.3 12.5 13.0 11.1 15.5 0.0 16.3 14.5

Average hours worked 34.3 33.3 35.1 34.3 34.5 32.4 34.6 33.2 34.2

% female 59.0 59.6 60.1 61.0 59.7 57.4 63.2 63.1 59.6



2006

Number 4,820 4,144 2,963 1,150 1,505 395 102 255 15,334


71.5 81.9 73.9 74.1 73.4 80.7 48.8 76.1 75.0


24.8 26.5 35.9 31.7 45.4 32.4 11.8 22.4 30.0

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and 2011, ABS, Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2012, cat. no. 3101.0

Remoteness area

In both selected census years, major cities had the highest number of pharmacists. The rate of pharmacists per 100,000 population in major cities (83.0 in 2006 and 99.5 in 2011) was substantially higher than all other remoteness areas in both years. Major cities also had the largest increase in the rate of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population between 2006 and 2011 (up 16.5 pharmacists per 100,000 population).

The number of employed pharmacists and the rate of pharmacists per 100,000 population increased between 2006 and 2011 in most other regional areas. An exception is very remote areas, where there was a decrease in the number of pharmacists and the rate per 100,000 population (decreasing from 23.5 in 2006 to 15.7 in 2011) between the two years (table 21).

Table 21: selected characteristics of employed pharmacists by remoteness area, 2006 and 2011

Major cities

Inner regional


Very remote(a) Australia(b)

2011

Number 15,610 2,846 1,265 159 32 19,941


99.5 69.2 62.4 50.5 15.7 89.3

Average age 37.7 40.2 38.0 30.0 33.9 38.1

% aged 55 and over 13.8 18.6 14.4 0.0 0.0 14.5

Average hours worked 34.4 34.2 35.4 39.9 44.8 34.5

% female 60.1 57.5 58.3 63.5 68.8 59.6

2006

Number 11,792 2,316 1,046 131 43 15,334


83.0 60.5 54.3 43.2 23.5 75.0


32.4 22.9 20.9 21.4 -25.6 30.0

(a) Care should be taken when interpreting the figures for remote and very remote areas due to the relatively small number of employed pharmacists who reported their usual residence was in these regions.

(b) Includes migratory and no usual residence.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and 2011, ABS, Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2012, cat. no. 3218.0.


ABS Labour Force Survey

While the Census occurs every five years, the ABS Labour Force Survey (LFS) is conducted monthly, and every quarter more detailed information is asked on occupation. Figure 14 presents annualised quarterly ABS LFS data, showing trends in the number of employed pharmacists over time.

The ABS LFS shows that over the period from 1996 to 2013:

• The number of employed pharmacists generally increased, with an average annual growth rate of 1.5 per cent.

• The number of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population had an average annual growth of 1.2 per cent.

• The FTE rate per 100,000 population (calculated using a 38 hour week) experienced a small annual decline (of 0.4 per cent) over the period.

Figure 14 shows the FTE rate diverges from the employed rate from approximately 2005 onwards. This divergence reflects the fall in average weekly hours – a result of males reducing their work hours, combined with increasing numbers of females entering the workforce and working part-time.

Figure 14: employed pharmacists – number, number per 100,000 and FTE per 100,000, 1996 to 2011

0

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Rat

e p

er

100,

0 00

Nu m

ber

('0

00)

Empoyed Employed rate per 100,000 ERP FTE Rate per 100,000 ERP

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Quarterly, Feb 2013. Cat. no. 6291.0.55.003. Data cube E08, ABS, Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2012, cat. no. 3101.0.

According the LFS, pharmacists’ average weekly hours have decreased over time – from 38.9 hours per week in 1996 to 32.8 in 2012. Within this, female hours worked showed little change across the period, while male average weekly hours decreased substantially, by over 10 hours per week (table 22).


Table 22: employed pharmacists, average weekly hours by gender, selected years

1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

Males 45.0 42.5 41.1 37.1 34.2

Females 31.2 33.2 34.0 31.4 32.1

Persons 38.9 37.7 36.7 33.2 32.8

Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Quarterly, Feb 2013. Cat. no. 6291.0.55.003. Data cube E08

Workforce inflows

Information on workforce inflows is an important component of workforce planning, to understand how many people are entering the workforce. There are two primary streams to become a pharmacist in Australia – through the education system and through immigration. Information available on both streams is presented in this section.

Students

There are currently two sources of information on pharmacy students in Australia – AHPRA and Department of Education. Information from both sources is presented in this section.

Registered pharmacy students

As outlined earlier, a person needs to complete an accredited program of study to become a pharmacist in Australia. Students gaining a qualification that enables them to practise as a registered health professional usually do periods of clinical practice (involving direct patient contact) as a part of their course of study. In the interests of public safety, Health Ministers agreed that monitoring of students undertaking clinical practice is reasonable, and in line with the monitoring of fully qualified health professionals8.

Therefore, under the National Law, education providers provide AHPRA with the details of people undertaking a Board approved program of study or clinical training. For students enrolled in approved programs of study, student registration commences from the first year of the program (except for psychology, which does not register students). For students not enrolled in an approved program of study, registration occurs upon commencement of clinical training.

Examples of this include:

• When an overseas student arranges a clinical placement as part of the course requirements set out by the education provider in their home country.

• When an education provider is running a course that is accredited by an accreditation authority but is not yet approved by a National Board.

• When an education provider is running a course that has not yet been accredited by an accreditation authority or approved by a National Board9.

Student registration numbers are cumulative and reflect the number of students who have an active registration on 30 June, based on the expected completion date supplied by the education provider10.

8 Occupational Therapy Board website: http://www.occupationaltherapyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/FAQ.aspx#Whydostudentsneedtoberegistered. Accessed on 6 June 2013.

9 AHPRA Fact sheet for education providers: http://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Student-Registrations/fact-sheet-for-education-providers.aspx. Accessed on 6 June 2013

10 Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Annual Report 2012-13


At 30 June 2013 there were 7,616 registered pharmacy students, with an additional 269 students undertaking clinical training that does not currently form part of an approved program of study (table 23).

Table 23: number of registered pharmacy students, 2011 to 2013

30 June 2011 30 June 2012 30 June 2013 % increase2011 to 2013

Approved program of study(a) 7,617 7,987 7,616 -0.01

Clinical training(b) 10 173 269 2,590.0

(a) Students enrolled in a course approved by a National Board and leads to general registration.(b) Students undertaking any form of clinical experience that does not form part of an approved program of study and the person does not hold registration in the

health profession in which the clinical training is being undertaken.

Source: AHPRA Annual reports 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13

The Department of Education student numbers

While the AHPRA student registration numbers show the number of students in accredited pharmacy courses, it is cumulative only and student characteristics are not published. The DE conducts the Higher Education Statistics Collection, which provides a range of information on the provision of higher education in all Australian universities. From this collection, information is available on the number of student commencements and completions in higher education courses allocated to the pharmacy field of education, as well as the characteristics of those students. While this does not specifically include only those students in accredited pharmacy courses, it does provide an indication of student trends over time, which can assist with workforce planning.

In this section, information on student commencements and completions in higher education courses allocated to the pharmacy field of education is presented.

Cautions to note with the DE data:

• Information may include courses allocated to the pharmacy field of education that do not lead to registration as a pharmacist. That is, it may include students in non-accredited courses.

• The accuracy of coding courses to field of education is the responsibility of each university, and is subject to the knowledge of those allocating the codes.

• Information includes combined courses where the course has been allocated to two fields of education. Combined courses are courses designed to lead to a single combined award or to meet the requirements of more than one award.

Student commencements

Table 24 shows the number of commencing pharmacy students steadily increased over the period 2008 to 2012 (up 19 per cent or 427 students). The number of domestic students increased by approximately one-quarter (from 1,707 to 2,149) over this period. The number of overseas students was highest in 2009 (676 students or 29 per cent of total commencing students) and lowest in 2012 (492 students or 19 per cent of total).

In each year between 2008 and 2012, the percentage of female commencing students remained steady, at approximately two-thirds of students.


Table 24: number of student commencements within the pharmacy field of education by course type and characteristics, 2008 to 2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Bachelor 1,732 1,789 1,881 1,884 1,765

Postgraduate 499 575 568 704 893

Total 2,231 2,364 2,449 2,588 2,658

% female 62.7 63.4 63.2 62.1 66.6

% overseas 22.6 28.6 23.0 22.4 18.5

Source: Department of Education

Student completions

Increasing numbers of pharmacy commencements has generally translated into increasing numbers of students completing pharmacy degrees (table 25). Between 2008 and 2012 the number of completing students increased by 23 per cent (356 students). Postgraduate completions increased by 45 per cent, a higher rate than bachelor completions (which rose by 17 per cent).

While domestic completions account for the majority of all completions across the selected years, the percentage of overseas completions increased slightly, from 21 per cent in 2008 (or 323 students) to 24 per cent in 2012 (454 students). The percentage of females among completing students remained relatively steady and in line with the percentage of female student commencements, at approximately two-thirds of students in each year.

Table 25: number of student completions within the pharmacy field of education by course type and characteristics, 2008 to 2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Bachelor 1,233 1,312 1,424 1,266 1,443

Postgraduate 325 389 427 445 471

Total 1,558 1,701 1,851 1,711 1,914

% female 64.3 63.6 63.7 64.3 65.1

% overseas 20.7 18.9 22.2 24.0 23.8

Source: Department of Education


Provisional registrations

Upon completion of an accredited pharmacy qualification, graduates need to successfully complete a period of supervised practice as an intern to gain general registration to practice as a pharmacist. Graduates must apply to the Pharmacy Board of Australia for provisional registration prior to entering an internship program, and must hold provisional registration until the internship program is completed and the requirements (which include examinations as well as successful completion of the period of supervised practice) for general registration are met.

In 2012 there were 1,945 pharmacists holding provisional registration in Australia (table 26). Most of these pharmacists were located in New South Wales (31 per cent), Victoria (20 per cent), and Queensland (26 per cent). There are relatively low numbers of provisionally registered pharmacists in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Nationally, females made up almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of provisionally registered pharmacists. This is slightly higher than the percentage of female employed pharmacists shown in Table 1 (58 per cent), and indicates the percentage of female pharmacists is likely to increase in the future.

Please note, it is not possible to reconcile the DE information on student completions with the number of provisionally registered pharmacists. This is because the DE information can include students completing non-accredited pharmacy courses, who are not eligible to obtain provisional registration as a pharmacist.

Table 26: number of provisionally registered pharmacists by state/territory and gender, 2012

NSW VIC. QLD SA WA TAS. NT ACT AUS(a)

Males 235 135 177 48 74 24 7 8 710

Females 361 249 333 82 149 28 15 18 1,235

Total 596 384 510 130 223 52 22 26 1,945

(a) includes location unknown


Immigration

When migrating to Australia, overseas-trained pharmacists must have their skills assessed by the APC to demonstrate their competence to practise according to Australian professional standards. There are two pathways an overseas-trained pharmacist can be assessed through:

• Stream B – is for pharmacists that both trained and registered in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada or the United States of America. These countries are recognised by the APC as having educational processes, practice competencies and structures that are substantially comparable with those in Australia.

• Stream A – for all overseas-trained pharmacists not eligible for Stream B. The assessment includes English language requirements and Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS).

Skills assessment is only one component of a migration application to Australia. Another component is applying for, and being granted a visa.


Temporary visa grants

Table 27 shows few temporary visas were granted to pharmacists over the last eight years. In particular, the number of 457 temporary work (skilled) visa grants decreased from 46 in 2005-06 to 13 in 2012-13. A person must be sponsored and nominated by a business to work in Australia on a 457 temporary work visa, so the fall in visa grants in this category may indicate businesses are largely successfully filling positions domestically.

Table 27: number of temporary visa grants to pharmacists by subclass, 2005-06 to 2012-13

Visa category 2005 -06 2006 -07 2007 -08 2008 -09 2009 -10 2010 -11 2011 -12 2012-13

442 occupational trainee

11 11 15 27 24 20 13 3

457 temporary work (skilled)

46 33 32 16 16 21 11 13

Total 57 44 47 43 40 41 24 41

Source: Department of Immigration and Border Protection administrative data.

Permanent visa grants

For permanent visa grants, most visas were granted under the skilled independent pathway. This pathway operates on a points system and does not require employer or state or territory sponsorship. To be eligible for the skilled independent pathway, an occupation must appear on the skilled occupation list (SOL), which is developed by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency. Pharmacists were removed from the SOL in 2010, added back in 2011, and removed again from July 2013.

This volatility in pharmacists appearing on the SOL is reflected in permanent visa grants, with a substantial reduction in skilled independent visa grants from 2009-10 to 2010-11 (table 28).

Table 28: number of permanent visa grants(a) to pharmacists by visa type, 2005-06 to 2012-13

Visa category 2005 -06 2006 -07 2007 -08 2008 -09 2009 -10 2010 -11 2011 -12 2012-13

Employer sponsored

14 11 14 11 10 12 16 20

Skilled regional 27 24 21 58 50 19 11 14

Skilled independent

258 271 177 356 478 120 126 201

State/territory nominated

14 12 26 32 34 18 86 27

Total(b) 316 318 238 457 572 169 239 262

(a) Includes provisional visas(b) Includes business innovation and investment and distinguished talent visa grants.

Source: Department of Immigration and Border Protection administrative data.


On 1 July 2012, SkillSelect was implemented, a process where a person wanting to migrate to Australia first completes an expression of interest (EOI); and an invitation to apply for a visa is extended to people with an EOI, in order of those who scored the most points. Caps on the number of visa grants allowed for each occupation have been implemented from 1 July 2012. This is in contrast to the previous process where there were no caps, and anyone could submit an application without being invited to apply. The impact of these changes on skilled independent immigration numbers is yet to be seen.

How can workforce activity be measured?

As well as understanding the existing workforce stock and having an indication of how many people are entering the workforce, understanding workforce demand also forms an integral component of workforce planning. Potential data sources that could be used to measure demand for the pharmacist workforce are outlined in this section.

In conducting workforce projections for doctors and nurses, HWA employed the utilisation method for demand projections. This method measures expressed demand, and was based on service utilisation patterns as they currently exist for five year age and gender cohorts.

Workforce projections for pharmacists have previously been funded by the Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement11. In these projections, demand was calculated separately for community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists. For community pharmacists, demand was based on two components:

1. Growth in dispensing activity (calculated using population growth and pharmaceutical benefits schedule items).

2. Growth in new primary healthcare. This was to recognise the expanding role of pharmacists in the provision of primary healthcare, for example in the management of conditions like type 2 diabetes and asthma, and in providing medication management review services. To calculate growth in new primary healthcare, the number of GP services was used, with assumptions made on the share allocated to pharmacists; along with information on nursing home residency rates, coverage of nursing homes, resident turnover and age and sex specific home medication review rates.

For hospital pharmacists, it was assumed demand is determined by hospital patient throughput, and demand was calculated using age and sex specific hospital separation rates.

Pharmacy workforce planning projections

As noted above, workforce projections for pharmacists were funded by the Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Fourth Community Pharmacy Agreement. The Pharmacy Planning Workforce Study, conducted by Human Capital Alliance (International) (HCA), was released in 2010. A brief summary of the key components of the HCA study is provided for information.

Methodology

Workforce supply

HCA used the stock and flow model to generate workforce supply projections. This method involves identifying the size the current workforce (stock) and sources of inflows and outflows from the stock. To project future supply, the initial stock is moved forward based on expected inflows and outflows.

11 Pharmacy Workforce Planning Study. Human Capital Alliance.


Workforce demand

Two methods of estimating workforce demand were used:

• Service utilisation method: where analysis of past trends in service utilisation was used to estimate likely future changes in utilisation patterns.

• Economic demand method: where an assessment was made of social, political and economic circumstances, and how consumers of services, service providers and employers of labour will behave as a result of those circumstances.

Further information on workforce demand in this study is described in ‘how can workforce activity be measured?’.

HCA published workforce supply and demand projections for three planning scenarios:

• ‘Best estimate’ scenario – which used values in the model estimated to be the most likely outcome to occur (the default scenario). This projected supply would grow at a greater rate than demand, with a gradually increasing surplus of pharmacists over the planning period.

• ‘Aspirational’ scenario – which reflected high demand and high supply growth labour. This projected supply and demand growing at similar rates over the planning period.

• ‘Left behind world’ scenario – which reflected low demand growth and an uncertain growth in supply. This projected a lower rate of growth in supply and demand than the best estimate, and resulted in a potentially large oversupply of pharmacists throughout the projection period, but especially in the end of the planning period.

A range of assumptions underpinned the workforce model, and the study found that the key variable that influenced the planning outcome was community demand.

What issues have stakeholders identified for the pharmacy workforce?

Considerations that may impact future workforce supply or demand are important in providing a real world context for interpreting the historical trends presented in this report, and developing an understanding of future workforce requirements. Consultation was conducted with employers and the profession to obtain their views on such considerations, which are summarised in this section.

What were the jurisdiction views?

The consistent theme across jurisdictions as the issue most affecting the pharmacy workforce (now and into the future) was maldistribution. Their view was there is adequate to excess supply of pharmacists in metropolitan areas, but ongoing shortages in rural and remote areas, despite rural program funding through successive Community Pharmacy Agreements.

The exception noted to sufficient supply in metropolitan areas was for hospital pharmacists – several jurisdictions highlighted ongoing difficulties in recruiting experienced hospital pharmacists in metropolitan hospitals.

Issues highlighted as likely to impact future supply were:

• A continual decline in average hours from increasing female participation in the workforce.

• A potential ‘overcorrection’ to workforce supply (based on the existing perception of oversupply) which could potentially result in a future return to workforce shortages.


Jurisdictions also noted the following points as likely to increase future demand for the workforce:

• Increasing awareness of medication safety/drug use evaluation/antimicrobial stewardship for clinical pharmacy services and pharmacy expertise in policy/guideline development.

• Increasing incidence of long-term chronic disease, with a consequent evolvement of new pharmacy roles in primary care.

• Increasingly complex funding arrangements for medicines resulting in increasing workloads (for hospital pharmacists).

What were the associations’ views?

Feedback from associations also highlighted concerns regarding the maldistribution of the pharmacist workforce. It was noted that there are difficulties recruiting to rural and regional areas, and a shortage of highly experienced pharmacists providing clinical services in metropolitan hospitals.

In relation to demand, the following factors were raised as likely influences.

• Government funding, which can substantially impact the need for a workforce and is not necessarily predictable. Specific examples provided included:

» The funding of medication review services, which has led to approximately 3,000 pharmacists gaining accreditation to provide these services.

» Pharmaceutical funding reforms that allow public hospitals to offer medicines subsidised through the PBS, which has led to an increase in the number of pharmacists employed in public hospitals to deliver the reform program.

• Changing models of care and work settings, including:

» Hospital pharmacists moving from a mainly ‘supply service’ to a contemporary model where they spend two-thirds of their time as medicines experts working within a healthcare teams.

» Increasing numbers working as part of healthcare teams in primary healthcare settings, Medicare Locals, Aboriginal Health Services, and mental healthcare settings; and more pharmacists working independently and not tied to a particular community pharmacy.

• Potential expanded scopes of practice, such as those raised in the recent Grattan Institute report12, including pharmacists as immunisers and pharmacist repeat prescribing.

• Demographics of the population – including an ageing population and increasing incidence of chronic disease, increasing demand for pharmacist services.

In relation to future workforce supply, most items raised related to the training pathway, outlined below:

• An increasing number of pharmacy students, resulting from a substantial increase in number of pharmacy schools over last ten years, and more recently the introduction of a demand-driven higher education system, has raised several concerns, including the ability of the industry to offer sufficient clinical placements to graduates and concerns about decreasing quality of pharmacy programs associated with falls in entrance scores for pharmacy courses.

• The clinical placement funding model restricting clinical placements capacity. Pharmacists complete clinical placement during their internship year, following graduation. This sets pharmacists apart from many other health professions, where clinical placement is undertaken during undergraduate training. It was noted that the current funding model under the National Partnership Agreement on Hospital and Health Workforce Reform focuses on undergraduate clinical training, and there is a view this has reduced the availability of high quality intern training places for pharmacists, particularly in rural areas, also resulting in an internship bottleneck.

• Pharmacy graduates pursuing careers in other fields due to concerns about an oversupply of pharmacists.

• Education changes, with training reflecting the more collaborative ways of working that are emerging, and perceived benefits in increasing the flexibility of the future pharmacist workforce.

12 Duckett, S., Breadon, P. and Ginnivan, L., 2013, Access all areas: new solutions for GP shortages in rural Australia, Grattan Institute, Melbourne


Another factor raised as likely to affect future workforce supply is the increasing prevalence of part-time work and reducing average weekly hours – impacting on the number of people required to fill full-time positions.

Remuneration was also highlighted as an issue impacting on both demand for pharmacists (by employers) and supply (as an attractive career option). It was specifically noted that pharmacists’ salaries have stagnated in recent years.

Additionally, in relation to information about the pharmacy workforce, stakeholders highlighted concern with the ANZSCO for the collection and analysis of data for pharmacists – indicating it does not properly reflect today’s pharmacist roles.

HWA’s assessment of this workforce

HWA’s assessment of the pharmacy workforce comprises three components:

1. An assessment of existing workforce position – used to assess whether workforce supply matches demand for services (whether the workforce is in balance or not) at this point in time.

2. A set of indicators – collectively called the workforce dynamics indicator – used to highlight aspects of the current workforce that may be of concern into the future.

3. Comparison with other occupations – NHWDS data is used to compare key characteristics of the pharmacy workforce with other registered health occupations.

Existing workforce position assessment

Ideally, quantitative evidence should be used to determine whether a workforce is in balance or not at a point in time. However, there is a lack of such evidence. Therefore, to provide an understanding of the existing workforce position for the health workforces, HWA conducted an assessment using a range of partial measures. These measures were:

• Assessment by key stakeholders.

• Waiting times.

• Vacancy rates.

Each of these measures is discussed below.

Assessment by key stakeholders

HWA consulted with jurisdictions, peak bodies and associations, and employers to obtain their assessment of the existing workforce position of the pharmacy workforce. Where provided, these views are incorporated within the existing workforce position assessment.

Waiting times

Waiting times are a measure of access to a health professional – not specifically a measure of workforce imbalance. It is for this primary reason that waiting times can only be used as a partial measure to demonstrate existing workforce position. Factors aside from workforce availability influence waiting times and affect its use as an indicator, including the length of time someone has to wait, as this influences their likelihood to wait, and demand for a particular health profession.

Budget can also strongly influence waiting times for health professions primarily based in the public sector. Budget constraints influence supply by limiting the availability of staff, which impacts waiting times.


Vacancy rates

Vacancy rates and duration of vacancies are often used to assess potential workforce imbalances. Vacancies can imply there is an insufficient sized workforce as there are not enough people to fill positions available. However there are a range of cautions to note with using vacancy rates as a measure of workforce shortage:

• Vacancies occur as part of normal operations due to turnover and lags in filling positions.

• There is no single level of vacancy rate considered to reflect a workforce shortage.

• Vacancies can occur for reasons other than shortage, for example: the vacancy could be in an unattractive location; an employer may choose not to fill a vacancy for reasons such as budget constraints; or, applicants for a position may not have sufficient experience the employer is looking for.

• Vacancy rates may also understate workforce shortage, for example positions may not be advertised if they are not expected to be filled.

The sector in which this measure is being applied also determines its usefulness. In the public health sector, positions are salaried so vacancy rates can be an appropriate indicator. However in the private sector, private practitioners often deliver services so there may be minimal identified vacancies. Other indicators such as waiting times for a first appointment may be more appropriate for the private sector. For the reasons above, vacancy rates can also only be used as a partial indicator – they should not solely be considered as a measure of workforce shortage.

A number of other partial indicators can also be used to provide a picture of the existing workforce position, including overtime rates, salaries and predicted employment growth. However for this publication, the measures described above were focused on.

Existing workforce position assessment scale

Using available information from the three measures outlined above, the following scale was used to assess the existing workforce position of pharmacists.

White Current perceived excess supply – current aggregate workforce exceeds existing expressed service demand, including across geographic areas

Green No current perceived shortage – sufficient workforce for existing expressed service demand, minimal number of vacancies, no difficulty filling positions, and short waiting times

YellowPerceived maldistribution – localised excess supply and localised shortages – existing workforce supply exceeds existing expressed service demand in some locations, while in other locations expressed service demand exceeds existing workforce.

OrangePerceived maldistribution – localised adequate supply and localised shortages – existing sufficient workforce for existing expressed service demand is some locations, however expressed service demand exceeds existing workforce in other locations

RedPerceived current shortage – that is, expressed service demand in excess of existing workforce, ongoing vacancies exist, difficult/unable to fill positions, and extended waiting times across geographic areas


Existing workforce position assessment

Reflecting the fact that allied health professionals are employed and deployed differently across jurisdictions, the range of stakeholder views received, and the difficulty in assigning weightings to stakeholders to generate a national assessment, a single existing workforce position assessment has not been assigned to pharmacists.

The existing workforce position assessments provided for pharmacists ranged across most of the assessment scale – from green through to red. Ratings of yellow and orange – both variations on perceived levels of maldistribution, reflected:

• Difficulties in recruiting to rural and regional areas.

• Perceptions of oversupply of early-career pharmacists and shortages of experienced pharmacists.

The ‘red’ assessments specifically referred to shortages of hospital pharmacists and ongoing vacancies for experienced pharmacists across locations.

The Department of Employment conduct research to identify skill shortages in the Australian labour market, and publish the results of their research in individual occupation reports. The skill shortage research methodology is based on a sample survey of employers who had recently advertised vacancies, examining whether they were able to find suitable workers for the advertised position. Employers are identified through sources including national and regional newspapers, online job boards, association websites, professional journals and specialist publications.

The Department of Employment national labour market rating for pharmacists (as at February 2013) was ‘no shortage’. They noted that despite consistent shortages in the decade to 2008, the labour market for pharmacists has eased, and in 2012 almost 90 per cent of advertised vacancies were filled. Labour market ratings produced separately for states and territories varied, with pharmacists rated as ‘no shortage’ in most areas, but rated as ‘regional shortage’ for Tasmania (as at April 2013) and ‘regional recruitment difficulty’ for Queensland (as at January 2013)13.

Workforce dynamics indicator

The workforce dynamics indicator (WDI) is used to highlight aspects of the current workforce that may be of concern into the future. The WDI was adapted from Health Workforce New Zealand’s (HWNZ) medical discipline vulnerability ranking method14, where a traffic light approach is used to score workforces against the selected indicators.

HWA selected the following indicators for scoring.

• Average age – workforces with a higher average age are more susceptible to higher exit rates (through retirement) with lower entry rates.

• Percentage aged 55 and over – this can be a useful indicator of those potentially retiring or reducing working hours within the next 10 years.

• Change in average hours worked – workforces with falling average weekly hours worked can be an indicator of sufficient workforce supply, or supply exceeding demand; while workforces with increasing hours of work can indicate supply pressures.

• Replacement rate – this item is designed to calculate the ratio of newly registered professionals to workforce exits in a given year. This indicates whether the number currently completing training is sufficient to replace those presently leaving the workforce.

13 Department of Employment website. http://docs.employment.gov.au/node/31521. Accessed 12 November 2013.14 Prioritisation of Medical Disciplines for Funding by Health Workforce New Zealand. <www.rnzcgp.org.nz> Accessed 3 May 2012


• Dependence on internationally trained professionals – workforces with high percentages of internationally trained professionals are of greater concern due to their dependence on a less reliable supply stream (for example, changes in immigration policy may impact on supply).

• Duration of training program – the greater the duration of training, the longer it takes to train a replacement workforce.

The WDI provides a visual summary of the key dynamics of workforce recruitment, retention and retirement. They provide an easily understood presentation of health workforce planning information.

Workforce dynamic indicator assessment

NHWDS data was used to calculate the WDI for employed pharmacists, except for duration of training. For duration of training, the assessment is based on the shortest accredited training pathway to general registration. Given the maldistribution of the health workforce is one of the key findings across a number of HWA consultations, the WDI has also been calculated by remoteness area. This visually shows any differences in the characteristics of the employed pharmacy workforce by remoteness area.

Table 29 shows the WDI assessment for employed pharmacists by remoteness area. The value used to determine the WDI assessment is shown in the table, and shaded according to the assessment scale (table 30).

Table 29: pharmacists – workforce dynamics indicators

Major cities

Inner regional


Very remote(a) Australia

Average age 39.3 41.3 39.6 39.6 40.9 39.7

Percentage aged 55+ 15.7 20.5 18.9 16.8 20.4 16.7

Change in average hours

0.1 -0.2 -0.5 -0.3 2.0 0.0

Replacement rate(b) not assessed

Dependence on ITPs 12.4 13.1 14.7 14.3 22.4 12.7

Duration of training(c) 5 5 5 5 5 5

(a) Care should be taken when interpreting the figures for remote and very remote due to the relatively small number of employed practitioners who reported their location of main job in these regions.

(b) As the NHWDS is a longitudinal dataset, replacement rate should be able to be calculated in the future.(c) Includes completion of an accredited Intern Training Program


Indicator range boundaries

The range boundaries for most indicators were selected as an extension of the HWNZ ranking method. In this development of the WDI, the ranges for each indicator were set to be relatively equal, rather than being established using a statistical base.

To be able to score against the WDIs, an extensive range of data is required. Where a score cannot be allocated due to insufficient data, the indicator is not assessed.

The indicators used are basic measures only – ideally as data availability improves, more sophisticated measures can be developed. Table 30 summarises the indicators and their score ranges.


Table 30: workforce dynamics indicators

Indicator Minimal concern Significant concern

Average age <40 40–44 45–49 50–54 55+

Percentage aged 55+ <20% 20% – <30% 30% – <40% 40% – <50% 50%+

Annual change in average hours

± <0.3 hrs ±(0.3 –<0.6) hrs ±(0.6 –<0.9) hrs ±(0.9 –<1.2) hrs ±1.2 hrs+

Replacement rate 95% – 105%90% – <95%

105% – <110%80% – <90%

110% – <120%70% – <90%

120% – <130%<70%130%+

Dependence on internationally trained professionals

<12% 12% – 24% 25% – 37% 37% – 49% 50%+

Duration of training <4 4 5 6 7+

How do pharmacists compare with other registered health occupations?

Table 31 shows the key characteristics of those employed in registered health occupations using NHWDS data. Of the allied registered health occupations, pharmacists had the second highest employed workforce numbers (21,331) behind psychologists (22,404); and of all the registered health occupations, they had the fifth highest employed workforce, behind nurses (288,236), medical practitioners (79,653), midwives (30,792) and psychologists (22,404). Key characteristics varied across all the registered occupations (where measured), with pharmacists having:

• A relatively young age profile – consistent with many of the allied health occupations, and lower than the medical, nursing and dentist workforces.

• No change in average weekly hours worked from 2011 to 2012.

• Over half of the employed workforce being female.

• One of the longer duration of training scores on the WDI scale across the registered health occupations.


Table 31: registered health occupations, WDI ratings and selected characteristics

WDI ratings(a) Other selected characteristics

OccupationAve. Age

% aged 55+

Annual change

in ave hrs(b)

Dependence on ITPs

Duration of

trainingNumber

employed

Average weekly

hours worked

% female(c)

Remoteness distribution(d)

Medical practitioner

46.0 26.6 -0.5 35.1 5 79,653 42.7 37.9 79: 13: 6: 1

Nurse(e) 44.6 23.1 n.a. n.a. 3 288,236 31.6 89.7 71: 18: 9: 2

Midwife(f) 49.5 34.9 n.a. n.a. 3 30,792 19.0 98.2 68: 19: 10: 3

Dentist 43.4 23.4 -0.3 28.5 5 13,266 37.0 36.5 80: 14: 6: <1

Dental therapist

46.4 20.4 0.2 7.5 3 1,117 29.4 96.9 63: 21: 13: 3

Dental hygienist

37.4 5.7 0.7 15.2 2 1,425 29.4 94.6 84: 10: 5: <1

Oral health therapist

31.0 1.9 1.0 1.7 3 675 33.7 84.7 71: 19: 9: 1

Dental prosthetist

49.1 31.3 0.0 5.9 4 1,100 42.7 14.7 73: 21: 6: <1

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner

44.4 18.8 n.a. - 2 233 40.5 71.9 3: 4: 31: 61

Chiropractor 41.2 15.2 -0.2 14.4 5 4,029 33.3 34.8 75: 18: 6: <1

Medical radiation practitioner

39.1 14.7 n.a. 14.0 3 7,806 34.4 66.7 83: 13: 3: <1

Occupational therapist

36.8 8.0 n.a. 7.5 4 7,231 33.1 91.5 76: 19: 4: <1

Optometrist(g) 41.2 15.4 0.2 14.3 5 4,066 36.1 48.2 78: 16: 5: <1

Osteopath 38.8 13.2 -0.5 11.1 5 1,543 35.7 46.582: 15: n.p.:

n.p.


WDI ratings(a) Other selected characteristics

OccupationAve. Age

% aged 55+

Annual change

in ave hrs(b)

Dependence on ITPs

Duration of

trainingNumber

employed

Average weekly

hours worked

% female(c)

Remoteness distribution(d)

Pharmacist 39.7 16.7 0 12.7 5 21,331 35.9 58.2 76: 15: 7: 1

Physiotherapist 38.6 12.4 -0.3 14.5 4 20,081 34.2 68.8 80: 13: 5: 1

Podiatrist 37.6 8.2 -0.2 11.7 3 3,491 36.4 58.0 76: 17: 6: <1

Psychologist 45.6 26.9 -0.6 7.5 6 22,404 32.6 76.7 82: 12: 5: <1

Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner

47.0 28.5 n.a. 31.8 4 3,580 31.8 52.3 88: 9: 3: <1

n.a. not available. n.p. not publishable.(a) Replacement rate not included as this has not been assessed for any registered occupations at this point in time.(b) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, medical radiation practitioners, occupational therapists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners

joined the NRAS from 1 July 2012, so NHWDS data not available for 2011 for these occupations. Therefore annual change in average hours worked was not calculated for these occupations.

(c) For osteopaths, optometrists, physiotherapists and podiatrists, calculated excluding those where gender not stated or inadequately described.(d) Percentage of workforce located in major cities : inner regional : outer regional : remote or very remote areas.(e) Includes registered and enrolled nurses plus dual registered nurses and midwives. The duration of training WDI indicator for nurses was based on registered nurse

training time. (f) Includes those registered as midwives only plus dual registered nurses and midwives.(g) For optometrists, the minimum duration of programs with full accreditation at time of publication is 5 years. A 3.5 year fast track program offered by Deakin

University holds conditional accreditation at time of publication.

Sources: NHWDS: medical practitioners 2011 and 2012, NHWDS: nurses and midwives 2012, NHWDS: dental practitioners 2011 and 2012, NHWDS: allied health practitioners, 2011 and 2012

What does the analysis show?

Despite different collection methodologies, information from the NHWDS and census both show similar characteristics for the current pharmacist workforce:

• Over half of all pharmacists are female.

• They have an average age of approximately 40 years (39.7 in the 2012 NHWDS, and 38.0 in the 2011 Census).

• They mostly work in community pharmacy.

• They work part-time hours.

Census data, which can be used to show pharmacist workforce trends over time, also highlights:

• A substantial increase in workforce numbers from 1996 (increasing by more than 60 per cent).

• An increasing number and percentage of female pharmacists (from less than half of the workforce in 1996 to more than half in 2011).

• A reduction in average age, associated with the increase in new workforce entrants.

• A fall in average weekly hours worked (of approximately five hours), resulting from the fall in males’ average weekly hours worked combined with the increasing number of female pharmacists who work part-time.


Overall, the WDI assessment shows no strong areas of concern for this workforce – most indicators fall between the minimal concern and middle of the WDI assessment scale. In very remote areas, despite the rating generally falling in the same bracket on the WDI scale as the other remoteness areas, the actual values for the indicators tended to be higher. Pharmacists in very remote areas had the second highest value for average age and percentage aged 55 years and over (behind pharmacists in inner regional areas), the highest dependence on ITPs and the highest value for change in average hours worked (which also rated as a significant level of concern). This reflects concerns highlighted by both jurisdictions and other stakeholders of workforce maldistribution, but should also be considered with caution due to the small number of practitioners located in these areas.

The WDI ratings indicate that overseas-trained pharmacists are not a significant direct supply source for this profession. This is supported by DIBP information, which shows low numbers of temporary and permanent visa grants relative to workforce size. However, census data shows a large percentage of Australian pharmacists in 2011 were born overseas, and overseas students represented more than one in five graduates between 2008 and 2012. This suggests pharmacy is a desirable occupation for first-generation Australians and a desirable course of study for overseas students in Australia.

While the current age profile of the workforce is primarily rated as of minimal concern across all areas, with census data showing both a lowering of the age profile of pharmacists over time, and a substantial increase in workforce entrants (particularly between 2006 and 2011), this highlights another stakeholder issue – the number of less experienced pharmacists currently in the workforce. DE information also shows student and graduate numbers in the field of pharmacy have generally increased year on year from 2008 to 2012 (noting information presented may include students in non-accredited courses), indicating this trend is set to continue.

While information on workforce exits is not currently available (but is expected to be in future through the NHWDS), if workforce entrants are growing at a greater rate than exits, it can be expected more want to enter the pharmacy workforce than are required to replace those leaving. Consequences of this may include reducing remuneration, reducing work hours, people not finding employment and future students choosing other career options.

Stakeholder bodies noted there is already a perception that pharmacy graduates are choosing further study or pursuing careers outside of pharmacy rather than enter the pharmacist workforce due to concerns about oversupply, training opportunities, and/or salaries. There is some evidence to show small numbers of students completing courses in pharmacy are entering medicine courses – 3.5 per cent of students who completed pharmacy courses between 2007 and 2010 went on to commence medicine courses in 201115 .

A point to note is that alongside the increasing number of pharmacists, there is the potential for a continued reduction in average weekly hours worked. DE information suggests females will continue to enter the workforce at a greater rate than males, and current information shows female pharmacists’ average weekly hours worked are less than the overall average weekly hours. Therefore as the number of female pharmacists increases, so does the likelihood of a continued reduction in average weekly hours worked – and more pharmacists would then be required to fill full-time positions.

Flexible work practices will therefore be an important aspect of the pharmacist role into the future. The increase in pharmacists supply could also be seen as an opportunity to further pursue changing models of care and work settings, and potential expanded scope of practice opportunities for pharmacists.

15 Unpublished data, Health Workforce Australia, Medical Schools Outcomes Database


Appendix one – Pharmacists by Medicare Local regions

Table 32 shows the number of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population across all Medicare Local regions. Data in this table shows the number of pharmacists per 100,000 population working in the relevant Medicare Local region, and provides a useful refection of the geographical distribution of pharmacists – it does not reflect pharmacists employed by Medicare Local organisations.

Table 32: number of employed pharmacists per 100,000 population by Medicare Local regions, 2012

Medicare Local State/Territory Rate Area (km2)

Inner North West Melbourne VIC 206.1 149

Eastern Sydney NSW 179.3 106

Perth Central and East Metro WA 171.2 2,149

Central Adelaide and Hills SA 147.0 1,657

Sydney North Shore and Beaches NSW 131.2 307

Northern Sydney NSW 129.2 592

Fremantle WA 124.8 243

Metro North Brisbane QLD 122.3 3,999

Inner East Melbourne VIC 116.0 319

Bayside VIC 110.2 215

Tasmania TAS 108.1 68,018

Inner West Sydney NSW 101.7 126

Australian Capital Territory ACT 99.5 2,352

Greater Metro South Brisbane QLD 99.1 3,775

Northern Melbourne VIC 95.1 1,304

South Eastern Sydney NSW 94.7 400

Southern Adelaide - Fleurieu - Kangaroo Island SA 92.9 8,027

Frankston - Mornington Peninsula VIC 92.4 854

Loddon - Mallee - Murray VIC 90.7 49,202

Hume VIC 88.8 39,200

Bentley - Armadale WA 88.1 1,734

Barwon VIC 87.9 7,913

Sunshine Coast QLD 86.9 9,968



Grampians VIC 86.3 47,885

Gold Coast QLD 86.0 1,843

Gippsland VIC 84.3 41,557

Townsville - Mackay QLD 84.2 239,180

Western Sydney NSW 83.9 775

Wide Bay QLD 81.0 36,974

Murrumbidgee NSW 80.7 89,471

Illawarra - Shoalhaven NSW 78.9 5,687

Darling Downs - South West Queensland QLD 77.6 407,815

Great South Coast VIC 77.6 22,885

Lower Murray VIC 77.4 75,172

Eastern Melbourne VIC 75.3 2,641

Hunter NSW 74.4 32,747

North Coast NSW NSW 74.1 32,767

Perth South Coastal WA 74.1 3,093

Western NSW NSW 73.7 117,845

West Moreton - Oxley QLD 73.5 9,596

Far North Queensland QLD 72.5 270,956

Perth North Metro WA 71.8 880

South Eastern Melbourne VIC 70.8 1,821

South Western Sydney NSW 70.8 6,241

South West WA WA 69.9 219,939

Goulburn Valley VIC 69.8 16,519

Central Coast NSW NSW 69.5 1,680

Country South SA SA 68.8 69,522

Macedon Ranges and North Western Melbourne VIC 68.1 3,275

Country North SA SA 67.3 903,379

Northern Territory NT 66.8 1,348,190

Nepean - Blue Mountains NSW 65.8 9,122



Northern Adelaide SA 65.2 1,605

New England NSW 64.4 98,905

Central Queensland QLD 63.7 110,959

Southern NSW NSW 63.5 4,534

Goldfields - Midwest WA 60.0 1,373,296

Central and North West Queensland QLD 58.0 634,891

Far West NSW NSW 57.1 275,512

South Western Melbourne VIC 51.6 606

Kimberley - Pilbara WA 49.1 925,390



Enquiries concerning this report and its reproduction should be directed to:

Health Workforce Australia Post | GPO Box 2098, Adelaide SA 5001Telephone | 1800 707 351 Email | [email protected] Internet | www.hwa.gov.au

© Health Workforce Australia 2014HWA14IAP001.5 Published March 2014ISBN: 978-1-925070-13-2

Date post:	22-Jun-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	4 times
Download:	0 times

Australia’s Health Workforce Series Pharmacists in...

Documents