Announcement date
12 June 2020
Link to announcement
More essential support for Australian patients through community pharmacy | Health Portfolio Ministers and Aged Care
Problem being addressed
The objective of Community Pharmacy Agreements (CPAs) is to support consumer access to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidised medicines, programs and related services through community pharmacies across Australia. CPAs provide remuneration and business certainty to community pharmacy owners through successive five-year agreements. The negotiation of the Seventh CPA (7CPA) provided an opportunity for the Australian Government to agree a more efficient and effective supply and dispense of PBS medicines, and pharmacy services arrangements.
Proposal
The 7CPA is a new five-year agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Insufficient, Post Implementation Review (PIR) Required
Assessed PIR outcome
Inadequate
PIR Assessment comments
A PIR helps to evaluate whether the implemented policy is operating as intended, and is addressing the original problem, thereby delivering a net benefit to the public.
The analysis in the PIR for the 7CPA is inadequate under the Australian Government’s Impact Analysis framework. To be assessed as adequate, the PIR would have included more robust evidence demonstrating how the 7CPA delivers a net benefit to community, and a deeper examination of the impacts on health outcomes, accessibility of medicines, and the operation of the market. The PIR would also have needed to demonstrate a tangible plan to address data gaps, where they exist, to inform future CPAs.
Regulatory burden
$1,621,240 per annum