Pharmacy Daily | ACCHOs left out of Qld ownership bill

THE Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) has expressed disappointment over the new pharmacy ownership legislation in the state, calling the bill "anti-competitive", and "inequitable", (PD 25 Mar).

QAIHC said the legislation passed last week excludes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisations (ACCHOs) from owning pharmacies.

According to QAIHC Public Health Medical Director, A/Prof Sophia Couzos (pictured), the laws are seen as "anti-competitive, inequitable, and restricts options for proven successful models of care desperately needed" to support the provision of culturally appropriate, comprehensive health care to Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

"It's incredibly disappointing and you have to ask why this innovation was prevented from happening," Couzos told Pharmacy Daily.

"There aren't that many ACCHOs and they are hardly a threat or a challenge to community pharmacy, so unfortunately this disparity will continue," she commented.

Despite recommendations from QAIHC, AMA Queensland, the RACGP, the Productivity Commission, and various community groups to oppose the legislation, it was passed, she added prioritising the interests of private pharmacy owners over the healthcare needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The decision, A/Prof Couzos argues, contradicts the state's commitments under the National Closing the Gap Agreement and the National Medicines Policy, which aim to ensure equitable access to culturally safe medicines.

The legislation allows ACCHOs to manage all aspects of a collaborative health service except the pharmacy, which can only be owned by pharmacists or their close relatives, she explained.

"This restriction undermines the ability of Indigenous medical services to offer community-centric pharmacy care, contrasting sharply with the scale at which corporate entities operate across Australia."

Highlighting the success of ACCHO-run pharmacies in providing localised, culturally appropriate care, Couzos criticised the government's approach as a missed opportunity to enhance Indigenous access to medicines, which remains significantly lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians in areas without ACCHO pharmacies.

The proposal to include only one Indigenous representative in the new Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council has also been met with scepticism. JG