When reviewing an application for a pharmacy business licence, the Council must consider whether the applicant is a ‘fit and proper person’ to own a pharmacy business.
The Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2024 (PBO Act) provides a list of matters the Council must consider when determining if the person applying for a licence is a fit and proper person. These matters are:
- whether the person, or a director or shareholder of the person, holds or has previously held a pharmacy business licence and, if so:
- any conditions on the licence held or previously held
- whether the licence is or has been suspended or cancelled
- whether the person, or a director or shareholder of the person, has contravened the PBO Act, the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law or the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019, regardless of whether they have been convicted of an offence for the contravention
- whether the person is a party to a contract, agreement or arrangement in relation to a licensed pharmacy business containing a provision to which section 22(3) of the PBO Act applies
Section 22 of the PBO Act deals with inappropriate third-party control of a pharmacy business. The Council can consider if the applicant for a licence is a party to a contract, agreement or arrangement that gives a third-party control that is prohibited under section 22 of the PBO Act and, if so, the Council may decide that the person is not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
- whether the person, or a director or shareholder of the person, has been convicted of an indictable offence
- if the person is an individual—whether the person is, or has been:
- an insolvent under administration, or
- disqualified from managing corporations under the Corporations Act
- if the person is a corporation—whether the person is, or has been:
- placed into administration, receivership or liquidation, or
- wound up or deregistered under the Corporation Act
- any condition, undertaking, suspension or cancellation that applies, or has applied, under the Health Practitioner Regulation Nation Law Act 2009 in relation to the person’s registration (or the registration of a director or shareholder of the person) under the national law to practise in the pharmacy profession with general registration
- another matter the Council considers relevant in deciding whether the person is a fit and proper person to own a pharmacy business.
The Council can consider any other matter it considers relevant including if the applicant has ever owned a pharmacy business in a State or Territory, other than Queensland and if that business has ever been subject to regulatory action.
The Council can also obtain a criminal history report for any applicant, or any director or shareholder of an applicant, to assist it in assessing whether an applicant for a pharmacy business licence is a fit and proper person.