About us

In the spirit of reconciliation Advanced Pharmacy Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past, present and emerging. View our 2023-24 Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.

Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) is the progressive voice of Australian pharmacists and technicians, built on 80 years of hospital innovation that puts people and patients first.

In August 2024, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, or SHPA, began trading as Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha). 

About Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha)
Purpose and values
Our story

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About Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha)

Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) is the peak body committed to enriching patient care by extending advanced pharmacy from hospitals to everywhere medicines are needed. 

AdPha is committed to forging stronger connections between hospitals, transitions of care, aged care and general practice clinics by fostering a culture of recognition, innovation and collaboration, with the patient at the centre of everything we do. We are an inclusive member organisation supporting pharmacy professionals, no matter where they work, to realise their full potential and meet the increasing needs of patients through evidence-based care. 

AdPha is home to Australia’s pre-eminent pharmacy education program; the host of Australia’s largest scientific pharmacy conference - Medicines Management; the founding partner of Australasia’s first comprehensive pharmacy recognition program - the Australian and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy (ANZCAP) and supports a collaborative network of more than 6,000 members caring for Australians in hospitals, homes and communities. 

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri, Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet and work. We thank their Elders, past and present, and thank the Elders of the lands on which our members meet, work and live. We celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first pharmacists of Australia, bush medicine practitioners and doctors who practised on this land.

Purpose and values

Leading pharmacy, enriching care. From hospitals to everywhere medicines are needed.

• People and patients first: We are all people first; every member and practitioner, each peer and our staff group. And we support each other, to support every Australian receiving care.  
• Innovative and evidence-based: We use the best available scientific knowledge to inform our decisions and actions, exploring new and better ways of delivering care. 
• Inclusive and collaborative: We value diversity and respect each other's perspectives, working together to achieve our common goals. 
• Progressive and sustainable: While leading pharmacy and enriching care, we ensure our actions are environmentally and socially responsible.

Our values inspire the look of Advanced Pharmacy Australia, drawing on the imagery of four circles.

The circles also represent the care settings our members are already practising in: hospitals, transitions of care, aged care and general practice.  

And the circles provide a metaphor for proud principles of our membership: we are naturally inclusive, we are all about networks and collaboration, and we focus on the patient at the centre of everything we do. 

Purple remains the predominant colour of AdPha, a nod to the history of the purple ink that is an artefact of hospital pharmacy practice.

Our story

The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Victoria was established in 1941 following the pioneering efforts of 25 public hospital pharmacists in the state. From 1947 to 1964 other branches were established across Australia, and the inaugural meeting of the national council and first national conference of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia were held in Adelaide in 1961. Fred J Boyd was elected the Society's first federal president and he was the first editor of the Australian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (now the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research).

• View 'A prescription for success: the history of hospital pharmacy' by leading historian member, Ron Batagol FSHP, published in the Australian Journal of Pharmacy.

In 1996, the first SHPA Standards of Practice for Clinical Pharmacy were published and, three years later, SHPA became the first Australian professional pharmacy organisation to welcome pharmacy technicians as members.

In 2017, Specialty Practice is relaunched in an open format across 26 specialties; 33 Specialty Practice Groups are now hosted on the Communities platform. Foundation and Advanced Trainibg residencies were launched, follow one year later by Advanced Training Residencies (now Pharmacist Resident and Pharmacist Registrar training programs). In 2023, SHPA partnered with the New Zealand Hospital Pharmacy Association (NZHPA) to found the Australian and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy (ANZCAP).

In 2024, the organisation began trading as Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha). AdPha is governed by a Board of Directors which is supported by Branches and Specialty Practice Leadership Committees. Pharmacist Directors and Branch Committee member volunteers are elected by the membership.

AdPha is registered as a not-for-profit health promotion charity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth) (ACNC Act), with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC); the ACNC is AdPha's primary regulator.