Career Opportunities in Australia

A Study of the Demand and Supply of Pharmacists, 2000 – 2010 was undertaken by Health Care Intelligence Pty Ltd. (18 February 2003). Among the main drivers for an increase in demand for pharmacists are: ageing of the Australian population, increasing number of hospitals and number of patients admitted, availability of new drugs, patient complexity, safe dispensing loads, new medical technologies, changes in pharmacy service delivery, risk management and quality of care issues, electronic prescribing with decision support and hospital accreditation requirements.

The overall demand for full-time equivalent (FTE) pharmacists is projected to increase between 2000 and 2010 from some 13,100 to 17,200— in turn contributing to the overall shortfall of FTE pharmacists increasing from about 2,000 to around 3,000.

Source: Full report of O’Leary, K. et al. (2001) A Demand Model for Hospital Pharmacists available at http://www.shpa.org.au/documents/demandworkforce.pdf

The international shortage of pharmacists is being acutely experienced in the hospital setting in Australia. The Society of Hospital Pharmacists in Australia (SHPA) conducted national surveys as part of their National Workforce Action Plan to identify strategies in improving the retention and supply of Australia’s future health workforce. Based on the most recent survey (late 2003), of 128 hospital pharmacy services (54%), “ 10% of establishment positions for pharmacists in public hospitals are vacant.” An anticipated additional 100 pharmacists in the next two years are needed to provide clinical pharmacy services.

Source: Strategies to improve the retention and recruitment of Australia’s Hospital Pharmacy Workforce as part of the National Workforce Action Plan, July 2004.