Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2024

This Act may be cited as the Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2024.

This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

The main purposes of this Act are—

to promote the professional, safe and competent provision of pharmacy services by pharmacy businesses; and

to maintain public confidence in the pharmacy profession.

The main purposes of this Act are to be achieved mainly by—

limiting—

who may be an owner of, or hold a material interest in, a pharmacy business; and

how many pharmacy businesses a person may be an owner of or hold a material interest in; and

how and where pharmacy businesses may be carried on; and

imposing obligations on owners of, and persons who hold material interests in, pharmacy businesses; and

establishing the Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council to administer, including to monitor and enforce compliance with, this Act.

This Act binds all persons, including the State.

However, the State can not be prosecuted for an offence against this Act.

This Act does not limit the application of the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019.

The dictionary in schedule 1 defines particular words used in this Act.

A pharmacy business is a business that provides pharmacy services in Queensland that include core pharmacy services.

However, none of the following is a pharmacy business—

a business carried on by the State at a public sector hospital;

a business carried on at a hospital that provides core pharmacy services only to patients at the hospital;

a business carried on by a veterinary surgeon at premises used by the surgeon in the practice of the surgeon’s profession;

a business that compounds medicines for sale, or dispenses medicines, to members of the public solely in connection with the manufacture of animal food under a manufacturing licence under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019.

In this section—

core pharmacy service means—

the compounding of medicines for sale to members of the public; or

the dispensing, by or under the supervision of a practising pharmacist, of medicines to members of the public; or

the selling, by or under the supervision of a practising pharmacist, of medicines to members of the public other than on prescription.

hospital means—

a public sector hospital; or

a private health facility under the Private Health Facilities Act 1999.

public sector hospital see the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, schedule 2.

veterinary surgeon see the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1936, schedule.

A practising pharmacist is a person who is registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to practise in the pharmacy profession with general registration.

Each of the following is an eligible person—

a practising pharmacist;

a corporation whose directors and shareholders are all practising pharmacists;

a corporation—

whose directors and shareholders are a combination of practising pharmacists and close adult relatives of practising pharmacists; and

in which the majority of shares, and all voting shares, are held by practising pharmacists;

a friendly society that, on 29 April 2005, carried on a pharmacy business in Queensland or another State;

a friendly society that is an amalgamation of 2 or more friendly societies mentioned in paragraph (d);

Mater Misericordiae Ltd ACN 096 708 922.

In this section—

friendly society means a corporation—

that is registered under the Corporations Act under a name that includes the words ‘friendly society’; and

that is not carrying on business for the dominant purpose of securing a profit or pecuniary gain for its members; and

for which any object or intention of providing a dividend to its members is a limited, and not a dominant, purpose; and

that applies its property and income towards the objects of the corporation.

Premises are authorised premises if the premises—

are not located in, or directly accessible from, supermarket premises; and

meet the standards prescribed by regulation.

The Minister may recommend to the Governor in Council the making of a regulation under subsection (1)(b) only after receiving advice from the council on the standards.

A person is an owner of a pharmacy business if the person owns the business—

solely; or

jointly with 1 or more other persons, including, for example, in a partnership.