A person is treated for a common condition at a pharmacy

The shortest care pathway in this database — and whether it exists at all depends on which side of a state border the person is standing on, for a profession registered nationally.

healthA person seeking assessment and treatment for an uncomplicated urinary tract infection or hormonal contraception at a community pharmacy draft compare across jurisdictions

1 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

6 discrete steps
across 3 bodies

0% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

0 days saved by concurrency
vs. 1 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

assessment		1d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A person has a common condition their state permits a pharmacist to treat.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Check whether the state permits it assessment Whether a pharmacist in this jurisdiction may assess and treat this condition.	State medicines and poisons regulator	assessment	—	0 published	—
2	Walk into a pharmacy application No appointment, no referral, no prior relationship. after Check whether the state permits it 1d slack	Community pharmacy	applicant	—	0 estimate	—
3	Pharmacist assesses against the protocol assessment Structured assessment against the conditions and exclusions set by the state authority. Same visit. after Walk into a pharmacy	Community pharmacy	assessment	—	1 estimate	—
4	Treatment supplied, or referred on decision after Pharmacist assesses against the protocol	Community pharmacy	assessment	—	0 estimate	—
5	Pay for the consultation fee The pharmacist's assessment is not a Medicare-rebated service. after Treatment supplied, or referred on	—	assessment	—	0 estimate	—
6	National women's health prescribing trial decision only if triggered From 1 January 2027, UTI assessment and treatment and hormonal contraception at participating pharmacies, nationally. Triggered when: The national trial commences and the pharmacy participates. after Check whether the state permits it 1d slack	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	assessment	—	0 published	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Proposed changes

Medicare funds the more expensive pathway and not the cheaper one threshold
Medicare pays for a consultation with a doctor. It does not pay for the same protocol-driven assessment by a pharmacist, so the patient pays or the state does — and a patient who could be treated at a pharmacy has a financial reason to see a GP instead.
One profession, one national registration, eight scopes of practice merge
A pharmacist registered under national law may treat a urinary tract infection on one side of a state border and not the other. This is the eighth instance of the partial-national pattern in this database and the purest — the profession is regulated nationally and what it may do is not.

Sources

Queensland: Extended Practice Authority - Pharmacists from 1 July 2025; scope of practice and hormonal contraception pilots implemented as business-as-usual from 1 July 2025
New South Wales expanded scope services covering uncomplicated UTIs, hormonal contraception continuation and minor skin conditions, with initiation of oral contraceptives
Victoria statewide pilot from August 2024 covering UTIs, shingles, mild plaque psoriasis and vaccines across more than 760 pharmacies, with initiation of oral contraceptives for women over 18 following
National women's health pharmacist prescribing trial announced 13 March 2026, commencing 1 January 2027, covering assessment and treatment of uncomplicated UTIs and initiation and resupply of selected hormonal contraceptives
Scope of Practice Review (Cormack): inconsistent regulations, unnecessary restrictions on practice and siloed workforces having a detrimental impact on patients

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