NSW contraceptive pill pharmacist prescribing begins

From Friday, the oral contraceptive pill will be available over the counter in New South Wales, with eligible pharmacists allowed to prescribe the medication.
 
Under the change, low-risk women between the ages of 18 and 39 can bypass a GP to access the contraceptive.
 
Currently, there are 30 pharmacists who have met the training requirements to prescribe the pill, with around 250 expected to be trained by the end of the year.
 
The NSW Government will cover the cost of the first 5000 consultations, minus the price of the treatments.
 
Further, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park announced on Wednesday that a standalone, two-week training course will be up and running by October to increase the number of eligible pharmacists.
 
However, he is already facing serious questions about the reform, including the potential conflict of interest when pharmacists can benefit financially from the medication they prescribe.
 
‘I’m confident we’ve got the balance right – we need to make healthcare, specifically in this case contraceptive health care, as easy and as accessible and affordable for women as we possibly can,’ Minister Park told Sunrise.
 
‘Pharmacists are very conservative people. They’re not the sort of people who will just willy nilly sell things to patients.
 
‘They’ve got strict standards and strict protocols which they need to adhere to in relation to this, and I’m confident that we’ll get this right and that pharmacists will be able to deliver this service effectively.’
 
The course, run in partnership with Family Planning, will be subsidised by the State Government for 100 rural and remote pharmacists, as well as those working in under-serviced metro areas.
 
However, the announcement comes just days after two evaluations of the state’s contraceptive and urinary tract infection (UTI) pharmacy prescribing trials were released – reports the RACGP says justify its concerns.
 
Led by the University of Newcastle, the evaluations found NSW’s pharmacy prescribing model delivered oral contraceptive care to 1946 women over a 12-month period.
 
Of these patients accessing the contraceptive pill, almost 7% were referred to a GP, and around 7% saw another healthcare professional in the first four weeks after the pharmacy consultation.
 
Chief investigator Associate Professor Sarah Dineen-Griffin said both trials emphasised strong collaboration between pharmacists and GPs.
 
‘Our interviews made it clear that trust between GPs and community pharmacists is essential,’ she said.
 
In response, the RACGP is calling on the NSW Government to ensure any future service models are genuinely integrated with general practice, ‘not positioned as an alternative to it’.
 
As pharmacy prescribing expands across Australia, the college continues to call for pharmacists to be embedded into general practice.
 
Last week, the RACGP spoke out at the 2026 GP Pharmacist Symposium – joining forces with other health bodies to reinforce the clinical need and value of embedding pharmacists within general practice.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said this initiative is not only a benefit to patients, but also to clinicians, and the broader health system. 
 
‘GPs and practices recognise the value general practice-based pharmacists can provide for patients and the health system by preventing unnecessary hospitalisations and readmissions,’ he said. 
 
‘There’s real goodwill and mutual respect for the services and education pharmacists can provide as a member of a general practice team. 
 
‘Long-term, targeted funding for general practice-based pharmacists through the Workforce Incentive Program would break the biggest barrier to more practices adding a pharmacist to their team.’ 
 
In response to the NSW evaluations, the RACGP is also calling on the State Government to:

• commission further research with a genuine comparison group and a representative patient cohort before making any permanent policy decision
• complete the antimicrobial resistance analysis before drawing any conclusions about antibiotic prescribing safety
• fully assess the equity implications of shifting consultation costs to patients, particularly for concession cardholders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and women in rural and remote areas
• resist pressure to use this trial as justification for further expansion of pharmacy prescribing into other clinical areas
• require pharmacist prescribers to complete accredited post-graduate pharmacist prescribing training rather than relying on basic 1.5–3-hour online modules. 

New South Wales oral contraceptive pill pharmacy prescribing