Uncap care: Fairer access to safe use of medicines

Policy update | April 2026

Advocating for service sustainability during the fuel crisis

The PSA is actively working with government stakeholders to ensure that rising fuel costs do not compromise patient access to essential pharmacist-led services. We have proposed a suite of interim measures designed to provide immediate relief and practical flexibility.

 

Key recommendations currently under Ministerial consideration include:

  • Telehealth for medicines reviews: Enabling remote delivery of HMR and RMMR services to maintain continuity of care.
  • HMR location flexibility: Allowing reviews to be conducted at alternative sites, such as GP surgeries, ACCHOs or community pharmacies.
  • ACOP offsite capabilities: Permitting a portion of ACOP hours to be delivered offsite for essential clinical and administrative tasks.
  • Flexible ACOP time blocks: Introducing adaptable working blocks to better align with service needs and travel practicalities.

 

Current status: The PSA’s recommendations have been escalated for a final decision. We are committed to securing a rapid response that reflects the needs of our members.

 

Last updated: 22 April 2026

Patients are waiting too long for medicine safety programs, such as Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs), placing them at risk of hospitalisation and death. This is the unacceptable reality of capped and inflexible pharmacy programs.

 

PSA is advocating for the modernisation of pharmacy programs outside of the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA), which will exist within the First Pharmacy Programs Agreement (1PPA).

 

This includes ensuring there is adequate government funding for the 1PPA, which – if implemented – seeks to improve patient access to medicine safety programs such as HMRs.

Download Pharmacy Programs Reform Package Summary
Download PSA's Federal Budget Submission
Download PSA HMR Flyer
Download PSA Aged Care Flyer

Overview of PSA’s pharmacy programs reforms priorities

HMR caps

Remove monthly provider service caps, starting with a cap increase to 60 HMRs per month on 1 July 2026 to reduce patient wait times.

HMR fee indexation

Apply annual indexation to HMR service fees, including catch-up indexation since fees were frozen in 2019.

Rural HMRs

Introduce HMR payments linked to rural areas (MMM3-7) to increase workforce availability in thin markets.

Complex HMRs

Introduce HMR payments linked to patient and service complexity.

Telehealth

Reinstate telehealth for HMR
follow-up services.

Aged Care

Modernise RMMR, QUM, and ACOP programs to drive uptake and improve patient safety.

Help us advocate for you!

It needs all of us, at both the organisational and individual levels, to be involved and to have our voices heard.

 

PSA has developed ideas and materials to help you add your voice to the call to modernise pharmacy programs – and make them sustainable into the future.

Write to your politician

Write a letter or email to your local federal politician advocating for fairer funding for the medicine safety services you deliver.

 

PSA’s handy letter/email template can be edited and sent to your local parliamentarian to seek their support for credentialed pharmacists and the care we provide.

Download letter template

Advocate on social media

Tell your story in a social media post and tag your local candidates.

 

Add your voice to PSA’s calls for more support and investment in pharmacists

 

#UncapCare

Social media advocacy kit

Submit a letter to the editor or write an opinion piece for your local newspaper

Submit your story to your local paper, either as a short letter to the editor (typically around 100 words) or pitch an opinion piece about why it’s important to invest in pharmacy.

 

This helps put your issues on the agenda and ensures that decision-makers see the impact credentialed pharmacists can have on protecting patients from the harm that medicines can cause.

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were our first pharmacists.

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