Uncap care: social media kit
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Author: Ness Clancy
National Competency Standards Framework review
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), commissioned by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), through the Pharmacy Board of Australia (PharmBA), has been provided funds to lead a review of the National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia (2016) hereafter referred to as The Framework.
The Framework sets the foundation for safe, ethical, and effective pharmacist practice. It defines a consolidation of the core competencies (i.e. the integrated knowledge, skills and attributes) required throughout a pharmacist’s career.
Pharmacist roles are evolving rapidly due to:
- expanded scopes of practice
- advances in digital health and technology
- sustainability in health care.
The review will:
- define core competencies for all registered pharmacists
- support scope-specific maintenance and advanced practice progression
- improve clarity and usability
- reflect contemporary practice across all settings
- provide pathways for evolving and advancing practice
- align with legislative changes and sustainability principles.
Project overview
The PSA Project Team is leading the review to ensure that every stage of the process is transparent, collaborative, and aligned with regulatory and professional expectations.
The Project Advisory Group (PAG) will provide strategic oversight and expert input throughout the project lifecycle and plays a critical role in shaping the Framework so that it reflects contemporary pharmacy practice and the diverse needs of pharmacists and healthcare consumers.
The PAG is designed to be inclusive and representative of the profession and the communities it serves. It brings together:
- Practising pharmacists from a range of settings, including community, hospital, aged care, and general practice, ensuring real-world perspectives.
- Academic and regulatory experts, contributing deep knowledge of education standards and compliance requirements.
- Consumer advocates and student representatives, ensuring the Framework supports patient-centred care and future workforce needs.
- Professional associations and unions, providing insight into workforce development and advocacy priorities.
- First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community representatives, embedding cultural safety and equity at the heart of the Framework.
- Experts in digital health, telehealth, expanded scope of practice, and sustainability, ensuring the Framework is future-focused and responsive to emerging trends.
This collaborative and inclusive structure will ensure that the revised Framework is equitable, culturally safe, and adaptable to the evolving roles of pharmacists.
By engaging voices from across the profession and the communities we serve, we are building a Framework that supports every pharmacist — from early career to advanced practice — and strengthens the profession’s ability to deliver high-quality, patient-centred care.
How you can contribute
Broad consultation is essential to help shape a Framework that reflects the
profession’s diversity and evolving roles.
Share feedback or seek additional information on the review of the National
Competency Standards Framework. Call PSA on 1300 369 772, leave a message
and the PSA project team will contact you.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) acquires Australasian College of Pharmacy
Building a stronger profession together
As Australia’s national peak professional body for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has completed its acquisition of the Australasian College of Pharmacy (the College), strengthening its position as the leading provider of education and professional development for pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, and technicians.
The College brings recognised expertise in practical, contemporary training and CPD, supporting workforce capability and career progression. Together, PSA and the College will continue to deliver trusted, high-quality education that advances professional practice and supports a sustainable future for the pharmacy profession.
For partners and external stakeholders, the combined organisation offers a more streamlined and sustainable platform for collaboration. Integrating products and services will reduce duplication and enable greater reinvestment in education, practice support and advocacy for the pharmacy profession.
Both organisations have now entered the initial stages of a structured transition phase that will take place throughout 2026. During the transition period, all services delivered to members, learners, and stakeholders, including our commercial arrangements, education programs, and joint initiatives, will continue with minimal interruption. We remain committed to ensuring stability, clarity, and continuity as integration progresses.
As PSA and the College move forward together, members, partners and stakeholders can expect continued engagement and collaboration as our combined capabilities evolve. We look forward to building on existing relationships and working together to support professional practice, workforce development and a sustainable future for the pharmacy profession.
Shane Jackson
Shane is a pharmacist with over 20 years’ experience working in the health care sector as a practising pharmacist in clinical, consultant and academic roles. Shane’s career has been diverse, primarily focussed on improving pharmacy practice through teaching, research, policy implementation and advocacy.
Shane is a proprietor of three community pharmacies in Tasmania, and a director of Consultant Pharmacy Services, a group consisting of accredited pharmacists providing services to aged care in Tasmania. One of Shane’s community pharmacies was the first pharmacy in Australia to develop a model of integrated on-site pharmacy services comprising medication supply, quality use of medicines advice and medication review services employing innovative pharmacists.
Brooke Shelly
Brooke Shelly FPS is a rural Victorian pharmacist with a dynamic portfolio career spanning General Practice, credentialed medication management and residential medication management reviews, and multidisciplinary telehealth. She is a GP Pharmacist at Ontario Medical Clinic, a Senior Clinical Pharmacist with Beyond Pain, and the sole proprietor of MyMedManagement, delivering complex medication and residential medication management reviews across regional and remote areas.
In 2024, Brooke was named PSA Consultant Pharmacist of the Year and elevated to Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. She is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at La Trobe Rural Health School, serves on the Murray PHN Clinical Advisory Council, sits on the Advisory Network for the National Rural Health Commissioner, and is a member of the Monash Rural Health School Community Advisory Council. Brooke has previously held board positions with Pharmacy Support Services (PSS) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Victoria (PSV).
Known for her leadership in rural health advocacy, Brooke is passionate about embedding pharmacists within multidisciplinary teams to improve access and outcomes, particularly for rural communities.
Brooke brings clinical expertise, governance experience, and a deep commitment to health equity to her role on the PSA National Board.
Matthew Tweedie
Matthew Tweedie has over 30 years’ experience as an executive and non-executive director in the public, private and NGO health and community sectors in Western Australia. His strengths lie in communications and government relations, stakeholder management, organisational leadership, strategy development, and strategic advocacy. He has a wide network of political and community leaders within Western Australia.
Matt was Director of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA from 2008 to 2023, an influential peak body that exists to promote and advocate for the Community Pharmacy sector dedicated to improving access to primary health care for all West Australians. Previous executive roles include:
- CEO Canning Division of General Practice;
- Health Services Manager Kimberley Health Service
- Executive Director of the Asthma Foundation of WA
- Football Manager West Perth Football Club
In addition to his executive experience, Matt has experience in board directorship. His past appointments include:
- Director Rural Health West (current)
- Member Finance and Risk Management Committee Rural Health West (current)
- Director Rockingham Kwinana Division of General Practice
- Deputy Chair 360 Health
- Director WAPHA
Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education (BPE UWA) and post-graduate qualifications in education (DipEd WA) and company directorship (GAICD). Throughout his career, Matt has maintained a strong focus on the planning and delivery of primary and tertiary health care with a strong interest in delivery of services into rural and remote WA.
The Hon. Bronnie Taylor
The Hon. Bronnie Taylor is a board director, executive advisor and former NSW Government Cabinet Minister, combining clinical healthcare expertise, regional insight, and national leadership experience. In government, she helped shape responses to natural disasters and COVID-19, and led reforms, including a $16.5 billion women’s economic package and the expansion of women’s health services. Today, she serves on national boards and provides advice on women’s health, regional development, and ethical leadership, focused on helping organisations create lasting community impact.
A/Prof John Smithson
A/Prof John Smithson is a senior academic leader, prescribing pharmacist, and registered nurse with more than 30 years of clinical experience and over two decades of leadership in health education and workforce development. He is currently Head of Pharmacy at James Cook University, where he leads a nationally recognised, multi-campus pharmacy program serving regional, rural, and remote communities.
A/Prof Smithson has made a substantial contribution to national scope of practice reform and pharmacist prescribing education. He continues to practise weekly as a prescribing pharmacist in community pharmacy, ensuring his leadership, teaching, and policy contributions remain firmly grounded in contemporary clinical care.
His professional interests span advanced clinical practice, prescribing education, workforce capability, and simulation-enhanced learning. He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and has led significant government-funded initiatives supporting pharmacist prescribing and service transformation.
A/Prof Smithson brings extensive governance experience across university, professional, and community sectors, including service on national accreditation and regulatory bodies. He has held a range of senior academic leadership roles, contributing to accreditation, curriculum renewal, and quality assurance across multiple health disciplines. He is committed to strengthening the pharmacy profession’s role in delivering accessible, high-quality patient care.
Donna Bonney
Donna is an experienced Board Director, CEO and Executive across public and private health. education, and community services sectors.
Donna is currently CEO of True Relationships and Reproductive Health, and a Board Director at McLean Care and Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia.
She has previously held multiple executive leadership roles across the Mater Group including as CEO and Executive Director of Mater Education for 12 years – a large, commercial, not-for-profit Registered Training Organisation delivering accredited and non-accredited training for the health and community services workforce.
In 2021, she was asked to join Queensland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Taskforce, to establish and lead the Queensland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Command Centre, coordinating the roll out of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
Donna is immediate past Board Chair of Jobs Queensland, a past Board Director at the Australasian College of Pharmacy, Chaired the Queensland Care Consortium, and was a member of the Queensland Workforce Strategy Roundtable. She is dedicated to optimising the scope of practice for the healthcare workforce, professional skills development, and strategic workforce planning for all pharmacy professionals.
Dr Ayomide (Mide) Ogundipe
Dr Ayomide (Mide) Ogundipe is a pharmacist, researcher and educator passionate about advancing pharmacy practice through digital innovation and patient-centred care. She holds a PhD from Curtin Medical School, where her research explored the technological needs of community pharmacists to deliver modern, connected healthcare.
Mide is a Lecturer in Pharmacy at Curtin University and brings experience across clinical practice, academia and the health system, including roles supporting the delivery of complex digital health initiatives. She holds an Associate Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
She is widely recognised for her leadership and contributions to the profession. She was named the 2019 MIMs PSA National Intern Pharmacist of the Year, 2023 PSA WA Early Career Pharmacist of the Year and was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association in 2026.
An active leader within the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), she currently serves as the National Early Career Pharmacist (ECP) Board Director, Chair of the PSA ECP Community of Special Interest, Chair of the Project Advisory Group for the Pharmacists Code of Ethics Review and Vice President of the PSA Western Australian Branch. She also serves as a member of the PSA Membership, Products and Services Committee, and the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee.
With a clear vision for the future of pharmacy, Mide is committed to shaping practice through evidence-based innovation, collaborative leadership and the integration of digital health solutions to improve patient outcomes and elevate professional standards.
