APC

Welcome to the Australian Pharmacy Council Website

ATTENTION

Enrolment in the Written Examination

(formerly APCAT)

Candidates may register online for the Written Examination by visiting the APC website www.pearsonvue.com/apc

Registrations will be open from 5 July 2010. Interns will be required to provide their provisional (intern) registration number at the time of registering for an examination. This number may be obtained from the PBA (available late July). However, if this number is unknown at the time of registration candidates should enter a series of sixteen 1s to fill the field on the registration screen. A Candidate’s Guide to the Examination will also be available on the APC website from 5 July 2010.

Please contact the APC office on telephone 02 62475088 if you have problems registering for the examination.

The Australian Pharmacy Council was formed in 2002. Under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, the Australian Pharmacy Council Ltd is designated the independent accreditation agency for Australian pharmacy until July 2013, fulfilling the following functions:



•	Accrediting pharmacy schools and programs; intern training programs; and authorising agencies to accredit continuing professional development activities
•	Conducting written examinations on behalf of the Pharmacy Board of Australia towards eligibility for registration
•	Assessing the qualifications and skills of overseas trained pharmacists and international students graduating from an Australian pharmacy program for entry into the Australian registration process

Current members of the Australian Pharmacy Council include Australian pharmacy professional bodies, the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand, and independent members from each state and territory within Australia.

Important Skilled Migration Notice

Following a review of the skilled migration program the Government has issued a revised Skilled Occupations List for the purposes of migrating to Australia under the skilled migration program. The occupation of Pharmacist is not on that list which means that pharmacists are not needed in Australia and the pathway for independent skilled migration to Australia as a pharmacist no longer exists.

You should direct any enquiries to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship at www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new

APC candidates should reconsider proceeding with the APC process as the occupation of pharmacist is no longer an occupation on the SOL.

Intern Training Program Provider Accreditation

For further information about applying to APC for Accreditation to deliver an Intern Training Program in 2011, please select the following link.

ITP Standards and Accreditation

IMPORTANT

Changes to the APC assessment process from 1 July 2010 following the establishment of the Pharmacy Board of Australia

From 1 July 2010, pharmacists will be nationally registered to practise pharmacy in any state or territory in Australia. The individual state and territory pharmacy registering authorities will be decommissioned and a national Pharmacy Board of Australia (PBA) will replace them.

Overseas trained pharmacists seeking registration in Australia will be required to undertake the following assessments:

Assessment of qualifications to determine comparability with an Australian pharmacy qualification
Assessment of Knowledge of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS), or Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP)

Following satisfactory completion of the English language requirements and the two assessments, candidates will need to complete the following to be eligible for full registration, which will include:

- an intern training program
- a current Australian senior First aid certificate Level 2
- a written competency examination
- an oral examination
- satisfactory English language test result obtained at the one sitting

All interns completing the necessary process will undergo criminal history checks prior to being registered.

The APC will no longer be involved with candidates beyond the two initial assessments and the candidates (interns) will undertake the registration process under the Pharmacy Board of Australia. All enquiries regarding that process should be directed to:

before 1 July 2010      State/Territory pharmacy registering authority
after 1 July 2010         Registrations and Notifications Committee
Pharmacy Board of Australia
Website:          www.pharmacyboard.gov.au

Recently Released Publications
Please click on the links below to download recently released publications. Further APC publications can be found here.