Committee Details

On 13 February 2024, the Legislative Assembly amended Schedule 6 of the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Assembly, establishing the Cost of Living and Economics Committee, and transferred the Bill to the Cost of Living and Economics Committee for detailed consideration.  

NOTE. RELATED PUBLICATIONS AND SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED BEFORE 13 FEBRUARY 2024 CAN BE FOUND ON THIS PAGE, UNDER THE RESPECTIVE LINKS ABOVE.

ABOUT THE BILL

On 30 November 2023, the Hon Shannon Fentiman MP, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women, introduced the Pharmacy Business Ownership Bill 2023 (Bill) into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Economics and Governance Committee for detailed consideration.

View:   Introductory Speech
View:   Bill
View:   Explanatory Notes
View:   Statement of compatibility 

The Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2001 (2001 Act) has been in place for over 20 years and has been significantly amended during that time.  The Government has advised that the 2001 Act is outdated and limits Queensland Health's ability to ensure compliance with its requirements.  The Pharmacy Business Ownership Bill 2023 (Bill) seeks to repeal the 2001 Act and replace it with a modern and effective framework for regulation of the ownership of pharmacy businesses. 

The policy objectives of the Bill are to: 

• clarify the requirements in the 2001 Act relating to who may own or hold an interest in a pharmacy business, and retain the limits on the number of pharmacy businesses that a person may own or hold an interest in
• establish a regulatory council as a statutory body to administer the Act and transfer regulatory functions from Queensland Health to the council
• establish a licensing framework for the ownership of and interests in pharmacy businesses
• prohibit the regulatory council from issuing a licence if the pharmacy business is located in a supermarket
• prohibit third parties from exercising inappropriate control over how pharmacy business owners provide pharmacy services related to medicines, and provide that clauses in a contract or agreement that allow a third party to exercise inappropriate control are void
• require the regulatory council to report the results of compliance audits
• require the regulatory council to maintain a register of pharmacies, to assist the community to locate pharmacies and services provided by pharmacies
• modernise existing provisions relating to the functions and powers of inspectors, legal proceedings, delegations and protections from civil liability
• restrict disclosure of information obtained in connection with the administration of the legislation to limited circumstances, and
• confirm that regulations may be made about fees, waiver of fees, record keeping and pharmacy premise standards.

Further information

Further information including written briefings, correspondence, response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice will be made available under the Related Publications tab.

submissions

Submissions are now closed. Submissions accepted by the committee are accessible under the “View Submissions” tab above.

PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS

The committee held a public briefing on the Bill with officers of Queensland Health on Thursday, 14 December 2023.  A public hearing is scheduled for 12 February 2024 (in Brisbane).  

Committee’s report

The committee is due to table its report to the Parliament on the Bill, including recommending whether or not the Bill should be passed, by Friday, 8 March 2024. Once tabled, the committee's report will be published here.

Should the committee's report include any further recommendations (beyond recommending whether or not the Bill should be passed), the Government will have 3 months to respond to those recommendations. At that time, the Government Response will be published here.

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