13 May 2021

New fee - Annual Declaration of Financial Interest in a Pharmacy Business

Dear Pharmacy Proprietors,

Annual declaration notices will shortly be sent by email to all pharmacists holding a financial interest in a pharmacy business as at 30 April 2021. This year a new fee of $297 for each pharmacy business will apply.  Completion of the annual declaration and payment of the fee is due by 30 June 2021 and may be made online via the Council’s website. 

Failure to submit a declaration by the due date may result in a complaint of unsatisfactory professional conduct and/or maximum penalty of $2,200.

Please note that notices for the renewal of registration of pharmacy premises will be issued separately. 

Instructions for using the online facility.

Access to the Council's Annual Declaration portal is via the link provided in your Annual declaration notice. Instructions to assist in completing the Annual Declaration will be provided once you have entered the portal. ​

Why was a new fee introduced?

The work of the Council is entirely funded from fees paid by pharmacists registered in NSW and owners of NSW pharmacies. The Council deals with complaints about pharmacists and students in NSW and regulates pharmacy ownership to ensure there is no impermissible financial interest in a pharmacy business. The Council also maintains the Register of Pharmacies and undertakes an inspection program to proactively monitor pharmacies to ensure compliance with legal and other requirements.

The introduction of the new fee will ensure the financial viability of the Council into the future and enable it to continue to fulfil its responsibilities under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW). The new fee will also ensure that pharmacists who are not pharmacy owners are not subsiding Council’s pharmacy ownership work.

The new fee is prescribed in the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Schedule 5F Clause 15(1A) and the fee rate is prescribed in the Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Amendment (Pharmacy Annual Declaration Fee) Regulation. 

 What is a financial interest?

You hold a financial interest in a NSW pharmacy business if you have a direct or indirect monetary interest in that business. Holders of a financial interest include pharmacist proprietors, pharmacists who are partners in a pharmacists’ partnership that owns a pharmacy, pharmacists who are shareholders or directors in a pharmacists’ body corporate that owns a pharmacy, and beneficiaries of a trust that operates in respect of a pharmacists’ body corporate that owns a pharmacy.