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Requirements for Registration as a Pharmacist in New Zealand for Pharmacists registered with an Australian Pharmacy Board

There are reciprocal agreements, between the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand and the Pharmacy Board of each state of Australia for mutual recognition of pharmaceutical qualifications that have led to registration in either Australia or New Zealand. This means that providing you are currently registered as a pharmacist and in good standing in an Australian state, you will be able to be registered as a pharmacist in New Zealand. Sitting an examination is not necessary.

If you have worked in, and are registered as a pharmacist in countries other than Australia, you must contact the regulatory boards in these countries and arrange for them to send a letter of good standing directly to the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand before your application can be accepted.

When you arrive in New Zealand, you should contact the Registrations Officer at the Pharmacy Council. The Pharmacy Council will make contact with the regulatory boards in Australia where you are currently registered to verify your registration status and that you are in good standing. You will need to obtain and complete an application form to gain registration in the Scope of Practice of a Pharmacist in New Zealand. In the application process you will need to:

• be formally identified by the Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to take statutory declarations. You will be required to take your passport with you for identification, plus the appropriate forms. Please note that this identification process can only be completed once you have arrived in New Zealand.
• provide information concerning your fitness to practice as specified under Part 2, Section 16 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (HPCA) Act 2003.
• indicate where you have been practising as a pharmacist within the three years immediately preceding your application. Under the HPCA Act 2003 you may be required to meet further competence requirements if you have not practised as a pharmacist in Australia in last three years.
  

You will be exempt from meeting the English language requirements of the Act as you will have met the requirements set by the Pharmacy Board in the Australian State you are registered in.

Once you have completed the application process you will be issued with a conditional Annual Practising Certificate (APC) that allows you to practice under the supervision of a New Zealand registered pharmacist. You will then be required to:

• undertake four weeks supervised work experience under your supervising pharmacist. This is to gain familiarity with New Zealand laws, ethics and the Pharmaceutical Schedule of subsidised medicines. On completion of this period your supervising pharmacist will be asked to verify that you understand and can apply the legal, ethical, subsidy and other practical aspects of pharmacy practice in New Zealand. 
   THEN
• you will be interviewed by a practising pharmacist approved by the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand. The object of the law & ethics interview is to establish how you have adapted to New Zealand pharmacy practice, it is not a test of clinical knowledge. The questions will concentrate on ethical and pharmacy practice issues, legislation and cultural competence. Reference material may be brought to the interview.

Once the above requirements have been met, and all the documentation of this has been received by the Pharmacy Council, the Registrar can grant you an unconditional APC, under Part 2, Section 26 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 and you can practice unsupervised as a New Zealand registered pharmacist.

Registration requires residence in New Zealand at time of application.

Application and registration fees apply.

For enquiries please email the Registrations Officer

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