Ask your local federal MP to support our campaign
At every stage in this pandemic, Australia’s pharmacists have played a critical role in helping to combat the spread of COVID-19 – from supplying rapid antigen tests and administering COVID-19 vaccinations, to dispensing medications and providing health advice.
Yet despite this, community pharmacy continues to be plagued by poor wages and working conditions with pharmacists remaining the lowest paid graduates in Australia.
In 2018, Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA), your industry union, ran a case in the Fair Work Commission to have pharmacists pay lifted in the Pharmacy Industry Award.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia opposed PPA’s case, however we did manage to convince the Fair Work Commission to agree to review Graduate Pharmacist pay rates at a later date.
It's now 2022, and the Graduate Pay Review is due to begin later this year. PPA is campaigning for an increase to graduate pharmacist pay through its
Graduate to a Fairer Wage campaign.
Currently graduate pharmacists are the lowest paid graduates in Australia. Even a graduate studying a one-year cert 3 in manufacturing is paid more than an intern pharmacist.
How you can help
While the Fair Work Commission will make the final decision on whether to increase pay for graduate pharmacists, it takes into consideration the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including the Federal Government.
You can help by sending a message to your federal MP, asking them to meet with you to dicuss the terrible working conditions you and your fellow pharmacists are experiencing.
You can use the below form which will automatically generate an email to your federal MP.