What services do Australian pharmacies offer?

What can a pharmacy do besides fill a script?

A lot of what pharmacists do is paid for by the Australian Government, so it costs you nothing if you’re eligible. The main services are reviews of your medicines, packing them into dose aids, vaccinations and, in every state and territory now, treating some common conditions without a doctor’s script.

Not every pharmacy offers every service, and some need a booking, so call ahead.

What is a MedsCheck?

A MedsCheck is a one-on-one talk with a pharmacist about all the medicines you take, in a private area of the pharmacy. The pharmacist checks you understand what each one is for, sorts out any problems you’re having with them, and explains the best way to take and store them. You leave with an action plan.

It’s free if you hold a Medicare or DVA card, live at home, haven’t had a medicines review in the past 12 months, and you either:

• take five or more prescription medicines
• have recently had a significant medical event, such as a new diagnosis or a change in your health
• take a medicine with a high risk of side effects.

A Diabetes MedsCheck focuses on type 2 diabetes. It’s for people diagnosed in the past 12 months, or whose diabetes isn’t well controlled, who can’t get to a diabetes education service in good time.

The government funds each pharmacy for 20 of these checks a month, so ask whether there’s a place. Outside the program, a pharmacy can charge for the same service.

What is a Home Medicines Review?

A Home Medicines Review is a longer review in your own home, by a pharmacist with extra accreditation. They go through every medicine you take, then write a report for your doctor with recommendations, which the two of you use to plan your medicines. If it’s needed, the pharmacist comes back for up to two follow-up visits.

You need a referral from your GP, or from certain specialists, and your doctor has to agree there’s a clinical need for it. It’s free if you have a Medicare or DVA card and live in the community. One review every 24 months is usual, sooner if your health or medicines change a lot.

Ask your GP about one if you take several medicines or have had problems with them.

What is a dose administration aid?

A dose administration aid is a sealed, tamper-evident pack with your medicines set out by day and time of day, as your prescriber directed. The pharmacy packs it for you each week, to help you take the right medicines at the right times.

The government subsidises dose aids for people who hold a concession card, live at home, and either have trouble managing their medicines because of language, a disability or memory problems, or take five or more prescription medicines and find them hard to manage. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may be eligible under a separate program.

Each pharmacy is funded for a set number of packs a week and can charge for packs outside the program, so ask what it will cost you.

Can a pharmacy give me my medicine in smaller amounts?

Yes, if your prescriber asks for it. Under the Staged Supply program, a pharmacy hands out a PBS medicine in instalments, as often as your prescriber decides, instead of all at once. It’s for concession card holders who could be at risk with a full supply, such as people with a mental illness or a drug dependency, or who can’t store their medicines safely at home.

Can I get vaccinated at a pharmacy?

Yes. Pharmacists who are trained to vaccinate can give National Immunisation Program vaccines free to eligible people aged 5 and over, at pharmacies in the program. Which vaccines they can give, and from what age, is set by each state and territory.

Some pharmacies also give vaccines that aren’t on the program, such as travel vaccines, for a fee.

Can a pharmacist treat me without a doctor’s script?

For some conditions, yes. In every state and territory, pharmacists with extra training can now treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women and resupply some contraceptive pills. Several states let them treat more, such as shingles, impetigo (school sores) and flare-ups of eczema.

You’ll usually pay a consultation fee, and the medicine isn’t subsidised by the PBS, so it costs the private price. If the pharmacist thinks you need a doctor, they’ll refer you to one.

What a pharmacist can prescribe differs from state to state, and it’s changing as states widen the rules: what pharmacists can prescribe in each state has the details. From January 2027, a 12-month federal trial will let women aged 18 to 55 with a concession card get these contraceptives and UTI treatments for $7.70.

What else do pharmacies offer?

• Health checks. Some pharmacies check blood pressure, blood glucose or cholesterol, and some test bone density or blood clotting (INR). Ask what it costs.
• Naloxone. Naloxone reverses an opioid overdose. Pharmacies in the Take Home Naloxone program give it free and without a prescription to anyone who may have or see an overdose.
• Delivery. Some pharmacies deliver. Send your eScript token ahead and ask.

How do I find a pharmacy that offers a service?

Ring the pharmacy and ask, since services vary from one to the next. Find pharmacies near you, or browse pharmacies by state, with their phone numbers and opening hours. The Pharmacy Guild’s Find a Pharmacy also lists which services each member pharmacy offers.