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Pharmacists

Pharmacists ensure safe and quality use of medicines, and optimise health outcomes by contributing to selecting, prescribing, monitoring and evaluating medicine therapy, and researching, testing and developing pharmaceuticals and medical products.

HealthANZSCO 2515
$1,956/wkMedian full-time pay
46kPeople employed
+20% ▲Growth to 2035
68%Work full time
38Median age
Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2515.More about our sources: How we check our facts

What they do

The main tasks of this occupation, from the national occupation standard.

receiving prescriptions, checking patients' medicine histories, and ensuring optimal dosage and methods of administration and drug compatibility before dispensingpreparing or supervising the preparation and labelling of liquid medicines, ointments, powders, tablets and other medications to fill prescriptionsadvising prescribers on drug incompatibility and contra-indicationsreviewing and monitoring the medicine therapy of individual patients, and assessing the effectiveness of the total medicine therapymaintaining prescription files and recording issue of narcotics, poisons and habit-forming drugsstoring and preserving vaccines, serums and other drugs subject to deterioration
Source: JSA occupation profileTask list from the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 2515 (ANZSCO task statements).More about our sources: How we check our facts

The outlook

Room for 8,400 more people in pharmacists by 2035 ▲

The field grew 6.6% in the year to February 2026, adding about 2,900 workers. Most of the jobs are in VIC and NSW, with QLD third.

Source: JSA · ABS, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2515.More about our sources: How we check our facts
42k2025
46.6k2030 PROJ.
50.4k2035 PROJ.

Getting in

9 in ten people here have a degree. You can still get in without one.

1% came through a VET qualification. These are the nationally recognised courses mapped to this occupation, with the number of registered training providers that offer each one.

Source: JSA · training.gov.auEducation split: JSA (Jobs and Skills Australia) occupation profile, using ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Census data, ANZSCO 2515. Qualification mapping and provider counts: training.gov.au, the national register of vocational education, October 2026. Listed providers are current registered training providers (private providers and TAFE institutes).More about our sources: How we check our facts

Nationally recognised training · most offered first

11255NATGraduate Certificate

Graduate Certificate in Applied Pharmacy Practice

See 0 providers
11404NATGraduate Certificate

Graduate Certificate in Pharmacist Prescribing

See 0 providers
11243NATGraduate Diploma

Graduate Diploma of Advanced Pharmacy Practice

See 0 providers

Providers are shown in A-Z order on each course page. A listing is not a recommendation.

Jobs open right now

46k Australians do this work. See who is hiring this month.

Search job ads by state

Each link opens seek.com.au in a new tab, showing ads posted in the last month. SEEK is a job site; we link there because that is where most Australian jobs are advertised. We have no commercial relationship with SEEK.

Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26State chart shows people employed, not current job ads. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 2515.More about our sources: How we check our facts

People employed by state, 2025-26

VIC13.5k
NSW13.2k
QLD10.7k
WA3k
SA1.9k
ACT0.7k
TAS0.7k
NT0.3k

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