PHARMACISTS will benefit from a 3.5% increase to the award wage, delivered through the Annual Wage Review by the Fair Work Commission yesterday.
The increase has been welcomed by Professional Pharmacists Australia, who said the increase is an "important win for our nation's hard-working pharmacists made possible by persistent advocacy and campaigning by union members over many years".
"This pay rise recognises that pharmacists have suffered a reduction in real wage growth over the last four years as inflation has risen and wages have not kept up," said a spokesperson for the union.
"This increase is a step forward, but we know it's still not enough to match the real value of pharmacists' work, especially as our practice continues to expand."
In its submission to the 2025 Annual Wage Review, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said it "strongly advocates that any increase to the National Minimum Wage and Modern Award Wages does not exceed a maximum of 2.5%".
The Guild cited concerns that increases to wage rates have been outpacing profit growth for businesses, with the impact of this felt particularly in the small business sector, directly affecting a significant portion of Guild members.
Professional Pharmacists Australia said this latest increase is part of a longer campaign for structural reform, to secure safe workloads, fair pay, and professional respect for all pharmacists.
The increase comes on top of a rise in minimum wage rates of 14.1% over three years as a result of the Fair Work Commission's Gender-Based Undervaluation Review, which found that pharmacists covered by the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 have been the subject of gender-based undervaluation (PD 17 Apr). KB
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