Retail Pharmacist Career and Immigration options for Australia

Profile Title: Retail Pharmacist Career and Immigration options for Australia

Alternative Title:Community Pharmacist

ANZSCO Code: 251513 | Unit Code: 2515

Skill Level: Level 1 | Work Experience: 5 Years

Assessing Bodies: Australian Pharmacy Council (APharmC)

Skill Occupation List (SOL): STSOL

Specialization: Not Defined

Profile Description: Dispenses prescribed pharmaceuticals to the public, educates customers on health promotion, disease prevention and the proper use of medicines, and sells non-prescription medicines and related goods in a community pharmacy. Registration or licensing is required.

Job Duties:

• receiving prescriptions, checking patients medicine histories, and ensuring optimal dosage and methods of administration and drug compatibility before dispensing
• preparing or supervising the preparation and labelling of liquid medicines, ointments, powders, tablets and other medications to fill prescriptions
• advising prescribers on drug incompatibility and contra-indications
• reviewing and monitoring the medicine therapy of individual patients, and assessing the effectiveness of the total medicine therapy
• maintaining prescription files and recording issue of narcotics, poisons and habit-forming drugs
• storing and preserving vaccines, serums and other drugs subject to deterioration
• supplying non-prescription medicines, and diagnostic and therapeutic aids
• supervising and coordinating the work of Pharmacy Technicians, pharmacy interns and Pharmacy Sales Assistants
• conducting research to develop and improve pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and related chemical products
• conferring with Chemists, Engineering Professionals and other professionals about manufacturing techniques and ingredients
• testing and analysing drugs to determine their identity, purity and strength in relation to specified standards
• developing standards for drugs used in pharmaceuticals

Skill Level Description: In Australia and New Zealand: Occupations in this unit group have a level of skill commensurate with a Bachelor Degree or higher qualification and a one year traineeship (ANZSCO Skill Level 1). Registration or licensing is required.

Available Visa Options (As on February 2024):

• 190 - Skilled Nominated (subclass 190)
• 407 - Training visa (subclass 407)
• 489 - Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489) - State or Territory nominated
• 482 - Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) - Short Term Stream
• 187 - Regional Sponsor Migration Scheme (subclass 187)
• 494 - Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) (subclass 494) - Employer sponsored stream
• 491 - Skilled Work Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 491) State or Territory nominated

Registration or Licensing: required

Industries: Pharmacists are mainly employed in: Retail Trade; Health Care and Social Assistance; and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

Education Profile: The most common level of educational attainment for Pharmacists is Bachelor degree (77.1 per cent).

Job Opening: Over the five years to November 2019, the number of job openings for Pharmacists is expected to be average (between 10,001 and 25,000). Job openings count both employment growth and turnover (defined as workers leaving their occupation for other employment or leaving the workforce).

Age Group: The main age group is 25-34 years (37.0 per cent) and the median age is 34 years (compared to 40 years for all occupations).

Gender: The female share of Pharmacists is 69.7 per cent and 71.0 per cent of Pharmacists work full time. Average weekly hours for full time workers are 37.1 (compared to 40.2 for all occupations).

Earning: In August 2014 (latest available data) weekly earnings full-time before tax (and not including employer superannuation) were $1,451 (compared to earnings for all occupations of $1,200).

Employment: Employment for this occupation rose strongly (in percentage terms) in the past five years and rose very strongly in the long-term (ten years). Looking forward, employment for Pharmacists to November 2020 is expected to grow very strongly.