Pharmacist
Dispense medications, provide consumer advice and review medication regimens in community and hospital settings.
Registration: AHPRA registration as a pharmacist
Salary
Cited figures only: median full-time weekly earnings for the ANZSCO unit group Pharmacists (2515) from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia), and where available the QILT graduate starting salary for the matching study area.
| Figure | AUD | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time weekly earnings | $2071 | Your Career (2026-09-23) |
| Graduate starting salary | $62,600 | QILT (2026-08-31) |
Jobs, demand and who does this work
Figures for the ANZSCO occupation Retail Pharmacist (251513), the closest official match for pharmacist, from Your Career (Jobs and Skills Australia data, sourced 2026-09-23).
- People employed
- 21,700
- Future demand
- Strong
- Work full-time
- 63%
- Average full-time hours
- 42 a week
- Women
- 61%
- Median age
- 36
Where the jobs are (share of workers)
| NSW | 29.7% |
| VIC | 26.3% |
| QLD | 20.3% |
| WA | 11.5% |
| SA | 7.3% |
| TAS | 2.4% |
| ACT | 1.9% |
| NT | 0.7% |
Highest qualification held by workers
| Postgraduate qualification | 18.3% |
| Bachelor degree | 73.5% |
| Diploma or advanced diploma | 0.6% |
| Certificate I-IV | 1% |
| Year 12 | 4.2% |
| Below Year 12 | 0.7% |
What a pharmacist actually does
Community pharmacists spend most of the day at the dispensary bench: reviewing scripts, checking patient histories on MyHealthRecord and dispensing software, counselling consumers about new medications and dealing with after-hours emergency supplies. Most also run vaccination clinics, weight-management consults, smoking-cessation sessions and basic pathology screenings as the scope of practice expands. Hospital pharmacists work on the wards alongside doctors and nurses, reconciling medications at admission and discharge, dosing antibiotics by weight, and reviewing IV fluid orders. Shifts run 8 to 10 hours, often standing, with weekend rosters in community and hospital. The job blends the chemistry expertise from your degree with retail realities: stock control, owner pressure on consults, and rude customers. Pay has been compressed by chain consolidation but expanded scope (vaccinations, UTI prescribing in some states) is pulling rates back up.
Typical tasks
- Dispense and check prescriptions against legal requirements.
- Counsel consumers on safe medication use.
- Provide medication management reviews.
Skills you'll use
- Clinical pharmacology and drug-interaction screening
- Dosing calculations including paediatric and renal adjustments
- Reading and interpreting prescriptions and electronic medical records
- Patient counselling and behaviour-change conversations
- Injection technique for vaccinations
- Compounding extemporaneous preparations
- Inventory and Schedule 4/8 drug controls
- Triage and referral for minor ailments
How to become one
- 1Finish Year 12 with English, Chemistry and Maths Advanced or Methods (Biology helps)
- 2Complete a 4-year Bachelor of Pharmacy or a 2-year graduate Master of Pharmacy
- 3Pass clinical placement hours and assessments required by the Pharmacy Board of Australia
- 4Complete an intern year (1,824 supervised hours over 12 months) and pass the intern oral and written exams
- 5Apply for general AHPRA registration as a pharmacist
- 6Choose between community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, industry or academia
- 7Add scope endorsements such as vaccinations, schedule-3 supply or pharmacist prescribing where state law permits
Where you can work
- Community pharmacies (chains and independents)
- Public and private hospital pharmacies
- Compounding and sterile-preparation pharmacies
- Pharmaceutical industry (clinical, regulatory, medical affairs)
- Aboriginal community-controlled health services
- Defence Force health services
- Aged-care medication-review services
Career progression
Typical stages and roles. Years of experience are a rough guide; pay at each stage depends on the employer, award or agreement.
- Intern pharmacist0-1 yearsTypical roles: Intern pharmacist (community), Intern pharmacist (hospital)
- Pharmacist1-5 yearsTypical roles: Community pharmacist, Hospital pharmacist
- Senior or pharmacist in charge5-10 yearsTypical roles: Pharmacist in charge, Senior hospital pharmacist, Clinical pharmacist
- Owner or specialist10+ yearsTypical roles: Pharmacy owner, Clinical specialist, Pharmacy manager
Is this for you?
You might love this if
- You're rigorous about checking detail and accuracy
- You enjoy short, frequent patient interactions across a day
- You like the blend of science and retail or science and clinical care
- You can handle the financial pressure of running or working in a small business
- You're patient with consumers who are anxious or upset about scripts
This might not suit you if
- You can't tolerate the repetition of the dispensary bench
- You want a job with deep involvement in long-term patient cases
- You don't want to study a heavy science-loaded degree
- You can't handle being publicly accountable for dispensing errors
Ways in
Uni and TAFE routes for pharmacist. We only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.
University
Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
The University of Newcastle - NSW
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) and Master of Pharmacy Practice
The University of Sydney - NSW
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)/Doctor of Pharmacy
Monash University - VIC
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
Queensland University of Technology - QLD
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)
Curtin University - WA
TAFE / VET
Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.
No direct TAFE pathway to this career.
Sources
ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Your Career (yourcareer.gov.au) directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.