The Pharmacy Guild of Australia

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is the Pharmacy Owners' representative, but not the Pharmacy Profession body.
The 5,700 community pharmacies across Australia provide 450 million individual patient visits annually and employ over 65,000 Pharmacists and Pharmacy Assistants. The vast majority of the 300 million prescriptions dispensed under the Federal Government's subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
A major Guild activity at all levels is close liaison and negotiation with governments, manufacturers, wholesalers and other organisations in the health care delivery system.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia was established in 1928 as the Federated Pharmaceutical Services Guild of Australia and is registered under the federal Fair Work Act 2009 (Registered Organisations Act) as an employers' organization and as a Registered Training Organisation.
Structure and function.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is a single legal entity and is structured as follows:
National Council.
The National Council is the supreme governing body. It lays down all Guild policies, decides major issues and has the power to amend the Constitution, subject to referendum where required. Supporting National Council in the development of policies is a number of national committees that undertake research, examine strategies, provide advice and recommend policy approaches.
National President.
The National President works closely with the Executive Director and the Secretariat, and is the main spokesperson for the Guild. While always a pharmacist proprietor, the role of National President is effectively full-time.
Executive Director.
The Executive Director is entrusted with implementing the policies and decisions of National Council through the National Secretariat, with salaried, professional and administrative staff, and external consultants. The Secretariat is located in the Parliamentary Zone in Canberra, close to Parliament House.
State and territory branches.
Branch activities centre on the day-to-day servicing of members in such fields as industrial relations, marketing, staff training, and product and economic information. The Guild has branches in every Australian State and Territory:
Policy and legislation.
The development of policy and legislation is the responsibility of the Guild's governing body, the National Council, on which all State and Territory Branches are represented. Implementation of policy is overseen by the National Executive and effected through the National Secretariat.
Services.
The Guild provides a range of services to its members, including:
Community pharmacy agreements.
Since 1990, the Government of Australia has entered into and funded six successive five-year community pharmacy agreements with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (the Guild) to help maintain a national network of approximately 5,700 pharmacies as the primary method for dispensing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines to the public. 
The pharmacy agreements set out the amounts of the various fees ('pharmacy remuneration') pharmacies are paid to dispense PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) medicines, as well as the estimated total cost of pharmacy remuneration over the life of the agreement. 
The more recent agreements also provide for the funding of various programs intended to improve the use of PBS and RPBS medicines in the community. The agreements also establish a Community Service Obligation (CSO) funding pool to be drawn on by pharmaceutical wholesalers that can meet specified service standards for supplying PBS and RPBS medicines to retail pharmacies. 
The estimated total cost of these successive agreements, including the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement (6CPA), is $64 billion.
The Guild Group of Companies.
Guild Insurance.
Established in 1963, Guild Insurance provides business insurance, professional indemnity, home & contents and car insurance.
Guild Super.
Established in 1994, Guild Trustee Services Pty Limited (GTS) is the trustee for the Guild Retirement Fund (GRF), which includes GuildSuper, Child Care Super and GuildPension.
Meridian Lawyers.
Established in 2004, with the aim of providing legal services. Meridian provide legal advice in insurance law, health law, corporate and commercial law, employment law, commercial litigation and dispute resolution from our offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Brisbane and Perth.
Gold Cross.
Established in 1940 as Gilseal and renamed Gold Cross Products & Services in 1997, Gold Cross endorses pharmacy products and services badged with the Guild's logo. The company owns the Glucojel Confectionary and is the publisher of the official journal of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, "In The Know" ("ITK").
Guild Link.
Established in 1995, as a Medicines Information platform Guildlink is the Guild's Information Technology Company. GuildLink has been working with pharmaceutical companies, dispensing software vendors and health information providers to distribute medicines information electronically to the Australian market. In 2011 GuildCare was launched as part of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia's initiative to have a national systemised platform for delivering of professional health services with a goal to position pharmacies to be ready for the introduction of Australian Governments eHealth agenda.
FRED IT Group.
Established in 1992, Fred IT Group is Australia's largest dedicated IT solution provider to the pharmacy industry. Fred is a partnership with the Guild and Telstra and employs over 200 staff. Fred services approximately 3,000 business customers across Australia, representing roughly 60% of the market. The company offers:
Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy.
Established in 1992, The AACP is the major credentialing body for professional pharmacy cognitive services that are remunerated separately from the supply of medicines. Its primary role is to develop and administer the assessment process leading to the accreditation of registered pharmacists.
The AACP came into existence as the Australian Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) in 1992 and was re-named to its present title in 1994. The AACP is jointly owned by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia (the Guild).
The AACP was established to develop a national approach to the practice of 'consultant' pharmacy as an expansion of the professional health role of pharmacy in Australia. As such, it promotes and seeks recognition for the practice of consultant pharmacy and the provision of value-added, professional services in Australia.
World Pharmacy Council.
The Guild is a founding member of the World Pharmacy Council. Established in 1987, the Council is a global organisation formed from the world's peak community pharmacy bodies. The inaugural meeting occurred in Chester, UK, in 1987. It was founded on the idea that an international community pharmacy forum involving representatives of the peak community pharmacy organisations was needed.