Queensland Government
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
Thursday Island pharmacy assistants

Pictured: Thursday Island Pharmacy assistants Marcella Mosby, Kelvin Williams and Veronica Mosby have completed their Certificate II in Community Pharmacy and have commenced their Certificate III. Not pictured is fellow Certificate II recipient Janelle Luffman

A dozen staff at Thursday Island Pharmacy are formalising their skills with national qualifications.

Pharmacy owner Lynn Short says the certificate in community pharmacy is a ticket for her Torres Strait Islander staff to work anywhere in Australia.

"It's win-win," she said.

"They give good customer service because they’re trained and they get a recognised qualification. Their career path improves — they can leave the island with a qualification that is recognised anywhere in Australia."

The staffers' training is run by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. Guild trainers have been coming to the island since 2008, when the first students were beginning their certificate I. Some have started their certificate III, with a certificate IV the highest qualification.

Lynn's retail manager, Kelvin Williams, is one of the certificate III students. He sees his qualifications as a way of improving his service to his customers.

"The certificate II has increased my confidence in carrying out my role," he said.

"The additional product knowledge I have gained through this training has allowed me to better assist customers with their requests. I am also confident to assist in training junior staff."

Lynn has a staff of 23, most of whom are local Torres Strait Islanders.

"I recognised a few years ago that one of the biggest holes in my business was that there wasn't a trained staff pool," she said.

"I realised that I would have to do the training myself, and then the (guild's) scheme was launched.

"The scheme gave me the financial backing to do it (staff training) on a large scale."

Lynn proudly states her belief that her business is now Australia's leader in Indigenous pharmacy training.

Staff at Thursday Island Pharmacy are being trained under one of two schemes administered by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and funded by the Australian Government under the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Assistant Traineeship Scheme is funding training for all Lynn’s staff. It encourages community pharmacies to employ Indigenous people as pharmacy assistants by providing incentives of up to $10,000 for each grade of their training.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Scholarship Scheme encourages Indigenous people into pharmacy studies at university. There are three scholarships each year, each offering $15,000 a year for a maximum of four years.

There is more information on the guild's website.