GPs call for aged care pharmacists as Tasmania weighs $5m pharmacy expansion

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is urging the Tasmanian Government to redirect $5 million earmarked for a pharmacy scope-of-practice pilot into embedding pharmacists directly in residential aged care facilities.

In its 2026–27 pre-budget submission, the RACGP argues the shift could improve medication safety for older people without increasing overall state spending. The proposal would instead repurpose funding already allocated to expand pharmacist prescribing in community pharmacies.

RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner said the state had an opportunity to prioritise safer medication management for older residents rather than expand a “retail-based prescribing experiment”.

“Embedding pharmacists in aged care is evidence-driven, cost-effective and immediately improves safety for some of our most vulnerable people,” Dr Gardner said.

The call comes as Tasmania prepares its 2026–27 state budget, expected to be delivered in May.

A growing debate about where pharmacists should sit

Tasmania has been pushing ahead with pharmacist scope expansion, including pilots that allow trained pharmacists to assess and treat some conditions.

The initiative was backed by the Tasmanian Government under Premier Jeremy Rockliff as part of a broader strategy to relieve pressure on GPs and hospitals.

Pharmacy groups have welcomed the move. Organisations such as the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia argue expanded pharmacist roles improve access to care, particularly in regional areas.

But general practice organisations say the model risks fragmenting care if prescribing happens outside established medical governance.

Instead, the RACGP wants the state to prioritise embedding pharmacists inside aged care homes where medication risk is highest.

Medication risk in aged care

Medication safety is a major concern in residential aged care.

Older residents often take multiple medicines, increasing the risk of adverse drug events, interactions and inappropriate prescribing. Australian research suggests medication-related harm accounts for hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions nationally each year, many of them potentially preventable.

Evidence from Australian trials shows pharmacists working on-site in aged care homes can reduce potentially inappropriate medicines and improve medication review processes.

The PiRACF study, a large Australian trial of on-site pharmacists in residential facilities, found significant improvements in prescribing quality and deprescribing of unnecessary medications.

However, the evidence on hospital admissions is less definitive. While medication management improved, the study did not find statistically significant reductions in hospital presentations over the trial period.

In other words, the strongest evidence so far is about better prescribing and safer medicines, rather than dramatic reductions in hospital use.

Commonwealth policy already shifting in this direction

The debate also sits alongside an existing national policy.

The Australian Government introduced the Aged Care On-site Pharmacist program in 2024, funding pharmacists to work inside residential facilities at roughly one pharmacist per 250 beds.

The program is voluntary for providers and delivered through partnerships with community pharmacies.

That raises a practical question for Tasmania. If the Commonwealth already funds on-site pharmacists, what exactly should state funding add?

Policy analysts say the most effective role for state investment would likely be to support uptake in facilities that have not yet implemented the program, address workforce shortages in regional areas, or strengthen governance and integration with local GPs.

Simply duplicating Commonwealth funding would risk paying twice for the same role.

Broader health workforce reforms proposed

Beyond aged care pharmacists, the RACGP submission includes several other policy requests aimed at strengthening Tasmania’s primary care workforce.

These include:

• removing payroll tax obligations for GP registrars to encourage training
• funding infrastructure grants to help practices expand registrar training capacity
• expanding RSV vaccination programs for people aged 75 and over
• increasing the use of GPs with Specific Interests in public outpatient clinics

The college argues these measures could improve workforce supply while easing pressure on hospital services.

A familiar policy tension

At its core, the debate reflects a wider tension in health policy.

Pharmacy groups are pushing for expanded clinical roles to improve access to treatment, while medical organisations argue for stronger integration within multidisciplinary teams led by general practice.

For aged care, the question may be less about whether pharmacists should play a bigger role, and more about where that role delivers the greatest impact.

Community pharmacy prescribing pilots promise faster access to treatment for minor conditions.

Embedding pharmacists inside aged care homes focuses on medication safety for some of the system’s most vulnerable patients.

Tasmania’s upcoming budget will reveal which approach the government believes delivers the better return.