Important
The majority of existing pharmacy business owners (those that owned under the 2001 Act as of 31 October 2025) have until 2 November 2026* (1 year from commencement of the PBO Act) to apply for a pharmacy business licence.
*Note 1 November 2026 falls on a Sunday which is an ‘excluded day’ under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954
When to apply for a licence
A summary of when to apply for a licence is outlined in the table below.
Pharmacy business | Ownership | Key timeframes | Relevant sections of the PBO Act |
Note that an existing pharmacy business means a pharmacy business being carried on under the Pharmacy Business Ownership Act 2001 (2001 Act) as of 31 October 2025. | |||
Existing pharmacy business | Eligible person/s that owned the | Apply for a licence within one year of PBO Act commencing - by 2 November 2026 | Sections 10 and 215 |
Existing pharmacy business | Deemed eligible person/s that owned the existing pharmacy business as of 31 October 2025 Applies to only a small number of existing corporate owners. There are strict eligibility criteria to meet outlined in section 214(2)(c)) You should seek legal advice to confirm whether you would benefit from the two-year transitional period. | Apply for a licence within two years of PBO Act commencing - by 1 November 2027 | Sections 214, 216, 217 |
Existing pharmacy business | Eligible person/s that owned the existing pharmacy business as of 31 October 2025 with non-compliant beneficiaries of discretionary trusts (i.e. not a practising pharmacist or a close adult relative of a practising pharmacist) | Apply for a licence within one year of PBO Act commencing - by 2 November 2026, unless eligible for the two-year transitional period.
A licence can be granted despite having non-compliant beneficiaries. However, the licence holder/s must amend the discretionary trust deed to ensure beneficiaries are compliant by 1 November 2027
| Section 218 |
Existing pharmacy business | Non-practising pharmacists that owned, or had an interest in, an existing pharmacy business as of 31 October 2025 | Apply for a licence within one year of PBO Act commencing - by 2 November 2026, unless eligible for the two-year transitional period.
A licence can be granted despite a pharmacist having non-practising registration. However, the licence holder/s must ensure that any non-practising pharmacists have changed to general registration by 1 November 2027 | Section 219 |
Existing pharmacy business | New eligible person/s (e.g. a person purchasing an ownership interest) | Apply for a licence prior to settlement | Sections 10 and 15 |
New pharmacy business | New eligible person/s | Apply for a licence prior to commencement of trading | Sections 10 and 15 |
Which corporate owners benefit from the two‑year transitional period to apply for a licence (until 1 November 2027)
The majority of corporate owners will not benefit from the two-year transitional period and must apply by 2 November 2026.
Any corporate owner of an existing pharmacy business that met the definition of ‘eligible person' in section 10 of the PBO Act on 31 October 2025 must apply by 2 November 2026.
This requirement to apply by 2 November 2026 applies to each of the following:
- a corporation whose directors and shareholders are all practising pharmacists
- a corporation whose directors and shareholders are a combination of practising pharmacists and close adult relatives of practising pharmacists
- a friendly society (which meets the requirements in section 10 of the PBO Act)
- the Mater Misericordiae Ltd.
Practising pharmacist owners are also required to apply by 2 November 2026.
Corporate owners which are not an 'eligible person'
Corporate owners of existing pharmacy businesses which do not meet the definition of ‘eligible person’ should seek legal advice to confirm whether they would benefit from the two-year transitional period under sections 214 and 216 of the PBO Act.
To benefit from the two-year transitional period, a corporate owner of an existing pharmacy business must be able to show that they meet ALL the following criteria:
- On 31 October 2025, directors of the corporation were all:
- practising pharmacists; or
- close adult relatives, of practising pharmacists, who also held a material interest (as defined in section 13 of the PBO Act) in the business on that date.
- On 31 October 2025, shareholders of the corporation consisted only of the following:
- practising pharmacists;
- close adult relatives of practising pharmacists;
- one or more corporations (a corporate shareholder) whose directors and shareholders were (a) all practising pharmacists or (b) a combination of practising pharmacists and close adult relatives, of practising pharmacists, who also held a material interest in the business (as defined in section 13 of the PBO Act) on that date.
- If the corporate owner owned the existing pharmacy business as trustee of a trust, the beneficiaries of that trust on 31 October 2025 only included:
- practising pharmacists;
- close adult relatives of practising pharmacists;
- one or more corporations (a corporate beneficiary) whose directors and shareholders were (a) all practising pharmacists or (b) a combination of practising pharmacists and close adult relatives, of practising pharmacists, who also held a material interest in the business (as defined in section 13 of the PBO Act) on 31 October 2025.
- Since 1 November 2025, no material interest in the existing pharmacy business (as defined in section 13 of the PBO Act) has been transferred to a person who is not a practising pharmacist or a close adult relative of a practising pharmacist with an interest in the business.
Example ownership structures
Smith Pty Ltd owned Smith Family Pharmacy, an existing pharmacy business on 31 October 2025. The sole director and shareholder of Smith Pty Ltd is John Smith, a practising pharmacist. On 31 October 2025, John Smith held his shares in Smith Pty Ltd as trustee for the Smith Family Trust. The only beneficiary for the Smith Family Trust on that date was Smith & Co Pty Ltd (a corporate beneficiary).
Smith Pty Ltd does not benefit from the two-year transitional period. It must apply for a licence by 2 November 2026.
On 31 October 2025, Smith Pty Ltd met the definition of eligible person under section 10 of the PBO Act. It is a corporation whose directors and shareholders were all practising pharmacists on 31 October 2025. The two-year transition period only applies where the corporation was not an eligible person on 31 October 2025.
On 31 October 2025, Citizen Pharmacy, an existing pharmacy business, was owned by Citizen Pty Ltd. On that date, Citizen Pty Ltd had two shareholders (1) Jane Citizen who is a practising pharmacist and the sole director and (2) Pharmacy Pty Ltd. On that date, Pharmacy Pty Ltd had two directors/shareholders, Jane Citizen and James Citizen, the spouse of Jane Citizen.
Citizen Pty Ltd does benefit from the two-year transitional period because on 31 October 2025 it:
- owned an existing business
- was not an eligible person (due to having a corporation as a shareholder)
- had a director who is a practising pharmacist
- had shareholders that consisted of only a practising pharmacist and a corporation which had directors and shareholders that were a combination of a practising pharmacist and their close adult relative (spouse).
Citizen Pty Ltd must apply for a licence by 1 November 2027.
Same as for example 2, except that on 31 October 2025, Citizen Pty Ltd owned the business as trustee of the Citizen Family Trust. The Citizen Family Trust beneficiaries are limited to Jane Citizen, James Citizen and JC Pty Ltd, which has Jane Citizen as its sole director and shareholder.
Citizen Pty Ltd does benefit from the two-year transitional period because on 31 October 2025, its beneficiaries consisted of only:
- practising pharmacists
- close adult relatives of practising pharmacists
- one or more corporations (a corporate beneficiary) whose directors and shareholders were all practising pharmacists or a combination of practising pharmacists and close adult relatives, of practising pharmacists, who also held a material interest in the business immediately before the commencement of the PBO Act.
On 31 October 2025, Jones Pty Ltd owned Jones Pharmacy, an existing pharmacy business. The sole director and shareholder of Jones Pty Ltd is Mary Jones, a practising pharmacist. Jones Pty Ltd is trustee for the Jones Family Trust. On 31 October 2025, the beneficiaries of the Jones Family Trust were Mary Jones (practising pharmacist), Steven Jones (Mary’s husband) and Jody Jones (Mary’s 20 year old daughter).
Jones Pty Ltd does not benefit from the two-year transitional period. It must apply for a licence by 2 November 2026.
On 31 October 2025, Jones Pty Ltd met the definition of eligible person under section 10 of the PBO Act. It is a corporation whose directors and shareholders were all practising pharmacists. The two-year transition period only applies where the corporation was not an eligible person on 31 October 2025.
What happens if I do not apply in time
If a pharmacy business owner does not apply for a licence by the required date under the PBO Act, they will be operating an unlicensed pharmacy business after that date. The PBO Act makes it an offence to carry on a pharmacy business without being licensed, meaning the owner may face compliance action including prosecution and potential penalties. It may also impact the assessment of whether they are fit and proper persons to be granted a pharmacy business licence.
Failure to meet the required deadlines may also be taken into account when assessing future licence applications, potentially affecting the owner’s ability to obtain or renew a licence.