ANZSCO2515-11,13South Australia

PharmacistsJune 2017

Labour Economics Office South Australia

Department of Employment

Current labour market ratingRegional Shortage

Previous labour market rating (June 2016)Regional Shortage

Comments

Labour market conditions for pharmacists remained unchanged in this year’ssurvey. Compared with employers from metropolitan Adelaide, employers outside of metropolitan Adelaideexperienced significant difficulties filling their vacancies.

Survey results

  • Most of the businesses contacted were advertising vacancies for pharmacists based in retail or hospital settings.
  • A survey of employers who had recently advertised for pharmacists found that 63 per cent of vacancies were filled within six weeks. This compares with 100 and86 per cent of surveyed vacancies in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
  • Consistent with lower fill rates, a lower average number of applicants (5.3) wasreceived this year compared with 2015 (9.1) and 2016 (7.1).
  • The average number of suitable applicants was higher in this year’s survey (3.4) compared with 2016 (2.3).
  • Employers from regional areas reported greater difficulty in recruitment compared withemployers in metropolitan Adelaide.
  • Metropolitan Adelaide employers filled all advertised vacancies compared with 25% of vacancies in non-metropolitan areas.
  • Employers recruiting retail pharmacists in non-metropolitan areas received no applicants for advertised vacancies.
  • On average,metropolitan vacancies received 5 applicants and 1.8 suitable applicants per vacancy.
  • Applicant and suitable applicant numbers for non-metropolitan vacancies is not informative as the data was heavily skewed by one employer who received comparatively high numbers of applicants and suitable applicants.
  • Due to the clear disparity between metropolitan and non-metropolitan fill rates, a regional shortage exists for the occupation.

Unsuitable applicants

  • Employers sought applicants with degree level qualifications and registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Compared to two thirds of all applicants in last year’s survey, 81 per cent of applicants met these minimum criteria.
  • Despite the high proportion of qualified applicants, over half were not considered suitable.
  • The main reasons for applicant unsuitability were lack of work experience and specific experience.
  • Employers tended to reject applicants who were newly registered and lacked experience.
  • In some instances specialised experience such as knowledge of dispensing software (for example FRED) or specific hospital functions were valued by employers.
  • Some employers in the retail sector found applicants unsuitable if they lacked soft skills and customer relation skills.
  • In non-metropolitan locations, location and relocation issues were cited by employers as reasons for not receiving applicants.

Demand and supply trends

  • The primary role of pharmacists is to dispense pharmaceuticals in a hospital or retail setting. As a consequence, indicators of demand for pharmacists includethe volume of transactions within pharmaceutical retail outlets and the number of pharmaceuticals dispensed.
  • The value of turnover in the SA pharmaceutical, cosmetic and toiletry goods retail sector grew by 4.5 per cent over the twelve months to December[1] despite the number of retailing businesses decreasing marginally from 576 in to 572 in the June 2016 financial year[2].
  • Demand for pharmacists has increased in the South Australian public sector where the number of employed pharmacists increased from 372 in June 2015 to 405 in June 2016[3].
  • Australian Government Department of Health data showsthat the volume of Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS)[4] prescriptions processed in South Australia over the year to June 2016increased marginally 0.14 per cent, compared witha national decline of 1.6 per cent.
  • Employment in the health care and social assistance industry has been steadily expanding for a number of years and future expansion is projected[5].
  • Advertised internet vacancies for pharmacists have been relatively stable over a four year period. This trend includes a small increase in vacancies that occurred in 2014[6].
  • In South Australia, the only study programapproved by the Pharmacy Board of Australia is the four year bachelor’s degree delivered by The University of South Australia[7].
  • In addition, qualified graduates must apply for provisional registration with the Pharmacy Board of Australia to undertake an internship. After successful completion of the internship, pharmacists are eligible for general registration.
  • Following two strong years where student completions increased by around 25% each yearin 2013 and 2014, completions in fell in 2015to equivalent average levels for the years 2005 - 2012[8].
  • As at December 2016 there were 1979 registered practising pharmacists[9] in South Australia, representing a 1.4 per cent increase on the previous year.

Labour Economics Office South Australia

Department of Employment

[1] ABS, Retail Trade (ABS Cat. No. 8501.0)

[2]ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2011 to Jun 2015, ABS Cat. No. 8165.0

[3] SA Government, Workforce Information Report, 2013-14 and 2014-15

[4]Department of Health, PBS Statistics

[5] Department of Employment Labour Market Information Portal: Projected regional employment growth by Industry - five years to November 2020

[6]Department of Employment, Internet Vacancy Index

[7] Pharmacy Board of Australia, Approved Programs of Study <

[8]Department of Education and Training, Higher Education Student Data Collection, 2015, customised tables

[9] Pharmacy Board of Australia, registrant data