Author: Lucy

The Pharmacy 4 Less group supports 53 franchised community pharmacies under the ‘Pharmacy 4 Less’ brand, and 12 franchised community pharmacies under the ‘Your Chemist Shop’ brand, with the majority of stores located in Victoria and New South Wales. The group also provides services to around 30 independent pharmacies.

The Pharmacy 4 Less group is serviced by Wesfarmers Health’s pharmacy wholesale business, API, with the acquisition underpinning the continuation of this long-standing relationship.

Wesfarmers Health Chief Customer Officer, Richard Pearson, said the acquisition would consolidate wholesale volumes within the division while also supporting Pharmacy 4 Less franchise pharmacy owners, the communities they serve and the staff they employ.

“Wesfarmers Health recognises the uncertainty these franchise partners have experienced over the past months and we are pleased to acquire the business. With more stable financial support, we see good growth potential for Pharmacy 4 Less’s brands and stores and look forward to working with the franchise partners.”

Pharmacy 4 Less Top Ryde franchise partner, Kamal Kotb, said: “We support Wesfarmers Health stepping-in to back our community pharmacies and the Pharmacy 4 Less brand at this critical time.  We look forward to working with the Wesfarmers Health team so that we can continue to service the health and care needs of our customers and community”.

The acquisition takes effect from Wednesday, 4 June 2025.

The announcement makes permanent the delivery of treatments for common conditions by community pharmacists following a successful pilot program.  

It also expands the range of health conditions that pharmacists can consult patients on, making care for a range of everyday conditions simpler, more affordable and easier to access.  

Under the expanded program, patients will be able to receive treatment from their local pharmacist for 22 health conditions including asthma, nausea, ear infections, wound management, and cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension. 

With this initiative, Victoria will become the only State or Territory where patients can access expanded healthcare services at community pharmacies without incurring any out-of-pocket expenses. 

Strong community and patient support was shown for the pilot program with 97 per cent patient satisfaction and 88 per cent of patients backing pharmacist-led treatment for everyday conditions. 

This is a significant step towards supporting the health and wellbeing of Victorians. 

The training fund will enable a significant expansion in the scope of practice for community pharmacists in Tasmania who will be able to offer more holistic care in the communities they serve. 

Patients will benefit from community-focused treatment – whether it’s for common conditions such as ear infections, reflux, or wound care, or through enhanced services in aged care settings. 

This announcement reinforces the essential role community pharmacists play in frontline healthcare and builds on successful models already in place in Queensland and the Northern Territory.  

This will bring real and lasting benefits to the Tasmanian community by making healthcare simpler, more affordable and easier to access. 

NPSA has welcomed a five-year agreement with the Commonwealth Government that will enable
ongoing timely and equitable distribution of PBS medicines to patients throughout Australia.

The first Pharmaceutical Wholesaler Agreement (1PWA) is an agreement between the government
and NPSA – the peak industry body representing full-line Community Service Obligation (CSO)
medicine wholesalers. It addresses significant erosion of supply chain funding and means that
Australians will continue to receive the uninterrupted medicine distribution service they have come to
rely on.

The partnership between the Commonwealth and the CSO medicine wholesaler industry was
established more than 20 years ago and underpins the ongoing reliability of the PBS, supporting the
Commonwealth’s promise of equity of access to all Australians set out in the National Medicines
Policy.

NPSA Chair Richard Vincent said, “We are extremely pleased to have finalised this five-year
agreement which secures medicine management and distribution and benefits all Australians. The
1PWA will enable available medicines, whether they be everyday tablets, high care specialised
therapies or cold chain products to be carefully managed and distributed reliably to patients, no matter
where they live.

“As climate-related disasters increase, our role is of heightened importance in reaching impacted
communities during emergencies such as cyclone, flood or bushfire.

“Through our commitment to the CSO, we are proud to provide 24-hour service to Australia’s 5900
community pharmacies, in the suburbs of our major cities and in rural and remote locations. With the
benefit of this agreement, we look forward to supporting government health initiatives and pharmacy’s
wider role in providing healthcare services to patients.”

Devoted to the healthcare sector, NPSA members API (Australian Pharmaceutical Industries), NPD
(National Pharmacies Distribution), Sigma Healthcare and Symbion employ more than 3,400 people
and operate a network of national distribution centres that safely distributes more than 316 million
units of prescription medicines into community pharmacies each year and more than 2 million units of
health-related products each day.

1PWA is a direct agreement between the government and NPSA and each CSO wholesaler will have
its own supporting agreement, reflecting the terms of the 1PWA. Previously, funding for medicine
distribution formed part of the Community Pharmacy Agreements with government.

1PWA represents a new level of collaboration with government to deliver for patients and the NPSA
sincerely thanks the Minister for Health and Aged Care, The Honourable Mark Butler, his team and
department for their work in finalising the agreement.