General information
This guide is based on publicly available information from official sources, including the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Services Australia, Healthdirect and other Australian Government health and pharmacy bodies. It is general information, not personal medical advice, and may change over time. With any medicine, always read the label and use only as directed, and if symptoms persist see your doctor or health care professional. Check anything that affects you with your pharmacist or GP. In an emergency, call 000.
QCPP stands for the Quality Care Pharmacy Program, a voluntary accreditation program for Australian community pharmacies. Accreditation indicates that a pharmacy has been assessed against the program's applicable quality-management requirements, covering premises, business systems, staff training and aspects of clinical governance. It is owned and run by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, and more than 95% of community pharmacies in Australia are accredited under it (What is QCPP?, qcpp.com). Accreditation is separate from the legal registration of individual pharmacists, which sits with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) through the Pharmacy Board of Australia, and from state or territory requirements applying to pharmacy businesses and premises. One change is worth knowing up front: QCPP is being renamed and updated as the Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP), with assessments under the new program scheduled to begin from 1st October 2026, covered near the end of this guide. For how to choose a pharmacy more broadly, see our guide to finding a pharmacy in Australia.
What is QCPP?
QCPP was developed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in 1997, and the first pharmacy was accredited in 1998 (What is QCPP?, qcpp.com). It is voluntary, but the great majority of community pharmacies take part, so the QCPP tick is close to an industry norm rather than a rare badge.
A pharmacy is accredited against the Australian Standard AS 85000:2017, a quality management system for pharmacies, applied through a detailed set of QCPP Requirements. The program itself is accredited by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ), the national body that oversees conformity assessment, and the on-site assessments are delivered by the professional-services firm EY (What is QCPP?, qcpp.com). An independent standard sits behind the logo, and an independent assessor checks that a pharmacy meets it.
What does QCPP actually accredit?
QCPP assesses the pharmacy against a quality-management standard covering the business, the premises and elements of how care is delivered. It is not a registration of the individual pharmacist as a clinician, which remains AHPRA's role, but it is broader than a pure business or premises check. The assessment covers areas that typically include the following, though the exact requirements are set out in the current QCPP Requirements document rather than reproduced in full here.
The premises. Matters such as layout, refrigeration, secure medicine storage, a private space for counselling, and waste handling are the kind of physical requirements a quality-management standard for pharmacies typically addresses.
The processes. Documented procedures for dispensing, counselling, handling prescriptions, and managing errors. QCPP wants written systems, not undocumented habits that are lost when a staff member leaves.
Staff training. Records of continuing professional development and training, with evidence of refresher training on the procedures that matter most.
Quality and clinical-governance systems. A documented way of recording incidents, reviewing them, and changing practice so problems are identified and addressed, alongside broader clinical-governance expectations that sit within the standard.
Accreditation is awarded after the pharmacy documents how it meets the standard and an assessor confirms it on site, working from records and observed practice rather than self-reported answers. For the precise, current list of requirements, the QCPP Requirements published at qcpp.com is the primary source.
How can you tell a pharmacy is accredited?
Two checks are reliable. Accredited pharmacies display the QCPP logo at the entrance, on the counter, or on their website, and the program requires them to use the current version of the logo. The surer check is the public register: QCPP maintains a register of currently accredited pharmacies at qcpp.com, and that register is the definitive check if a logo looks out of date. Pharmacy Finder does not display QCPP or QSPP logos on pharmacy listings; the register at qcpp.com is the authoritative source either way.
Accreditation tells you the pharmacy meets a national quality-management standard. The individual pharmacist serving you is separately registered and regulated by AHPRA. Both are worth a look.
What does QCPP not cover?
A few things sit outside QCPP.
An individual pharmacist's competence, conduct, and fitness to practise are regulated by the Pharmacy Board of Australia through AHPRA, not by QCPP. You can look up any pharmacist's registration on the AHPRA register at ahpra.gov.au.
Accreditation also does not measure clinical outcomes directly. It checks that systems intended to support safe practice are in place, not the dispensing-error rate itself, and it is not evidence that a particular error is less likely at an individual pharmacy.
It says nothing about price, either. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) pricing is set by the federal government, and everything else is priced by each pharmacy, so accreditation and value are separate questions. Nor does it dictate which services a pharmacy offers: an accredited pharmacy chooses for itself whether to run vaccinations, dose administration aids, compounding, or extended hours.
| Feature | QCPP | AHPRA (Pharmacy Board) |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | The pharmacy's business, premises and quality-management systems | The individual pharmacist as a practitioner |
| Mandatory? | No, voluntary | Yes, for every practising pharmacist |
| Cycle | Reaccreditation every two years | Registration renewed each year |
| Public register | qcpp.com | ahpra.gov.au |
| Covers individual clinical registration? | No | Yes |
qcpp.com and the Pharmacy Board of Australia.
How often is a pharmacy reassessed?
A pharmacy is assessed before it is first accredited, then reassessed every two years to keep its accreditation (What is QCPP?, qcpp.com). Accreditation can be suspended or withdrawn if a pharmacy stops meeting the standard, which is uncommon but does happen. Because accreditation runs in a cycle, a pharmacy's status can lapse between assessments, so if you see a QCPP logo but cannot find the pharmacy on the register, it is worth asking at the counter or checking the register directly.
The move to QSPP from October 2026
QCPP is being modernised. From 1st October 2026 it transitions to the Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP), described by the industry as a major change to community-pharmacy accreditation (Introducing QSPP, qspp.com).
QSPP accredits against the updated Australian Community Pharmacy Standard AS 85000:2024, reorganises the framework, and puts more weight on clinical governance, patient safety, and risk management. Pharmacies with an assessment due on or after 1st October 2026 move across to QSPP, and the transition is phased over time rather than all at once.
For a customer, the underlying idea stays the same: an accredited pharmacy has been independently assessed against a national standard. The standard itself has been updated, so QSPP is not simply a renamed version of the old assessment; treat a QSPP logo as the current program's mark, and if in doubt, check the register at qcpp.com rather than assuming a QCPP and a QSPP logo mean exactly the same thing.
What if you have a complaint that involves a pharmacy's standards?
Where a complaint should go depends on what it is about, and can also depend on your state or territory.
A clinical or professional issue with a pharmacist, from a dispensing error to a breach of confidentiality, goes to the Pharmacy Board of Australia through AHPRA at ahpra.gov.au/Notifications, the regulator with the power to investigate an individual practitioner.
A premises, systems or accessibility issue may involve the state or territory authority that licenses the premises, a local disability-discrimination body, or another jurisdiction-specific route depending on what the complaint concerns; the Pharmacy Board page links to the relevant state and territory contacts.
A concern about accreditation itself, for example a pharmacy displaying a QCPP logo that the register does not confirm, goes to QCPP through qcpp.com.
A general consumer complaint, over service, billing, or a product, starts with the pharmacy and then your state consumer-affairs office. Where the public is at serious risk, it is worth contacting AHPRA and the relevant state or territory authority at the same time rather than waiting on either.
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Frequently asked questions
No, it is voluntary. Under state and territory pharmacy law, a community pharmacy must hold a pharmacy-premises licence, plus PBS approval if it dispenses PBS prescriptions. QCPP sits on top of those as an additional quality standard, which is why more than 95% of pharmacies choose to hold it.
