Get pharmacy off the list?
March 26, 2012
THE majority of Australian
pharmacists would like to see
‘pharmacists’ removed from the
migration Skilled Occupations List
(SOL) for 2012/13, according to the
Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
SOL is a list of occupations which
are acceptable for immigration to
Australia, and although the job of
pharmacist was removed from the
list in 2010, it was controversially
added again in July last year.
Opponents to the listing say that
with the number of pharmacy
students graduating each year from
pharmacy schools across the nation
there is no shortfall of pharmacists
to serve the population.
Following the re-listing last year,
organisations including the Pharmacy
Guild and the National Australian
Pharmacy Students’ Association
(NAPSA) made submissions to
Skills Australia arguing that there
was no shortage of pharmacists in
the current labour market.
“With 19 accredited pharmacy
schools in Australia, and a sharp
growth in graduate numbers over
the past 10 years, we have to focus
on ensuring appropriate job
opportunities for our burgeoning
workforce,” said National President
of the Guild Kos Sclavos.
Sclavos backed up his position
saying that in the last decade the
number of pharmacy schools in
Australia has more than tripled
from six to 19.
According to NAPSA, “With the
number of pharmacy graduates
across 19 Australian institutions
set to increase, the utilisation of
these numbers and allocation of
pharmacy graduates as health care
professionals accordingly will
demonstrate more fully the
requirement that in medium-tolong-
term circumstance, pharmacy
as a profession needs to be removed
from the Skilled Occupations List,”.
MEANWHILE pharmacy
organisations are pinning their hopes
for pharmacists’ removal from the
SOL on data, set for release this
year from the Pharmacy Board of
Australia, which will provide more
detailed workforce information for
pharmacists on a national basis.
Whilst it will not be available for
consideration in this year’s SOL,
the Guild has said it hopes that the
Pharmacy Board data will enable
itself and other organisations such
as SHPA to provide a definitive view
on the adequacy of the pharmacy
workforce to meet the future
needs of the Australian community.
Speaking about the data, SHPA
said that more accurate info on
where pharmacists work when
initially registered and later in their
career is required to understand
where there are shortages and
inform decisions such as SOL listing.
“Although there are many newly
qualified pharmacists, we do have
problems in filling positions that
require highly skilled clinical
pharmacists and positions in rural
areas,” said SHPA President Sue Kirsa.
“SHPA believes that there is a need
for a period of stability of decision
making so that evidence for or
against the inclusion of pharmacists
in the SOL can be gathered and
assessed,” she added.
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