About pharmacy

Terms & Conditions – 2026 Guild Community Pharmacy Awards

Description of the Awards:

• The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, registered office is at Level 2, 15 National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600 (Guild) is the organiser and promoter of the Guild Community Pharmacy Awards (the Awards).
• The Awards recognise and reward community pharmacy teams and individuals who demonstrate excellence within their pharmacy and foster a culture of continued business and professional development.
• Information on how to enter and the prizes that form part of the Awards are set out in these terms and conditions.
• Participation in the Awards is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions.
• The Awards are free to enter.
• The Guild reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and entrants and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, or who tampers with the entry process, or who contravenes the integrity of the Awards. Incomplete or indecipherable entries are deemed invalid.
• Multiple entries are permitted in the first nomination round. Nominations open to the public. Once invited by the Guild to participate in the second round, only one entry can be made per eligible pharmacy.
• Entries open at 1:00pm on Monday 16 June 2025 and close on Wednesday, 16 July 2025 (the Competition Period). All times stated in these Terms and Conditions are based on Australian Eastern Standard Time. Entries received after the Competition Period are ineligible and will not qualify.
• The Guild reserves the right to request additional information concerning any Entry, as deemed appropriate.
• The Guild does not take any responsibility for incomplete, damaged or corrupt entries or for any technological issues that prevent an entry being received within the Competition Period.

Awards:

There are three awards:

1. Community Pharmacy of the Year
2. Community Pharmacist of the Year
3. Student Pharmacist of the Year

One (1) winner is selected for each award at a state and territory level.

These state and territory winners then become finalists for the National Guild Awards. From this group of finalists, one national winner is selected per award.

Eligibility:

Entry in the Awards is open to:

• Australian pharmacy owners and their staff who are current financial members of the Guild both at the time of entry and throughout the entire period leading up to the announcement of the National award.
• whose nominated pharmacy at the time of submission of entry is Quality Care Pharmacy Program (QCPP) accredited or who becomes QCPP accredited prior to the judging of the Award on 30 September 2025.
• Previous Guild Pharmacy of the Year Awards entrants, including overall winners, are welcome to submit entries.
• Previous winners of Guild Pharmacy of the year will need to wait a period of five years to be eligible to enter again.

The following are not eligible to enter the Awards:

• Employees of the Guild or any of its branches;
• Pharmacies that are not current financial members of the Guild
• Any pharmacy in respect of which an officer of the Guild (being a National Councillor of the Guild or a member of a Guild branch committee) (an Officer) has a controlling interest; and
• Any pharmacy in respect of which an Officer has significant management interest (for example, is a managing owner, or who is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the pharmacy).
• The Judging Panel has discretion to decide on questions of eligibility.
• The decision of the Judging Panel is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Submission of Nominations and Entries:

• Members of the public, healthcare workers, pharmacists and those in the pharmacy sector can nominate community pharmacies, community pharmacists and student pharmacists for the award.
• To enter, applicants must firstly complete a nomination entry form. There is no limit on how many entries can be received for one pharmacy.
• Entries must be submitted online via the Guild website Nominations can be submitted at https://findapharmacy.com.au/awards
• Any entry sent without completing the online entry form will be deemed invalid.
• Following this, shortlisted pharmacies and pharmacists will receive an invitation from the Guild to provide additional evidence to support their nomination.

The Judging Panel

The Guild convenes two separate judging panels at its absolute discretion: one at the state and territory level, and another at the national level.

Each judging panel consists of three members:

• Two (2) representatives from the Guild
• One (1) community pharmacy industry representative

All judges are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and declare any conflict of interest in relation to any Entries. If a conflict is identified, the judge must withdraw from deliberations on the affected Entry.

Assessment of Entries

This is a game of skill; chance plays no role in determining the winners.

• Nominations can be submitted in under one minute via a simple online form on Find a Pharmacy.
• Select the state or territory where the nominated pharmacy is located.
• Choose the pharmacy from a searchable drop-down list of eligible Guild member pharmacies in that region.
• Each Entry will be individually be reviewed by the Guild branch and national staff representative before being forwarded to the judging panel for assessment.
• Following this, the Judging Panel will prepare a shortlist of up to 5 finalists (Finalists) for each award in each state or territory.
• The Judging Panel may undertake a site visit at each Finalist pharmacy premises and conduct interviews with the Primary Contact listed on the Entry Form and other key identified staff.
• The Judging Panel will conduct interviews with the nominated pharmacist and other key staff as identified in the entry.
• The Judging Panel will conduct interviews with the nominated student pharmacist and other key staff as identified in the entry.
• Following any state and territory site visits and interviews, the Judging Panel will assess each of the Finalist pharmacies to determine the Award winners for each Award at the state and territory level and then determine the overall Guild Pharmacy of the Year winner who is deemed by the Judging Panel to have demonstrated achievement in all requirements of the Award.
• Following the interviews, the Judging Panel will assess each of the Finalist Community pharmacists and Student pharmacists to determine the Award winners for each State.
• Following any site visits and interviews, the National Judging Panel (different to state & territory judges) will assess each finalist pharmacy and individual to determine the national winners (Community Pharmacy of the Year, Community Pharmacist of the Year, and Student Pharmacist of the Year).
• The overall Guild Community Pharmacy of the Year winner will be selected from the State and Territory winners.
• The overall Guild Community Pharmacist of the Year winner will be selected from the State and Territory winners.
• The overall Guild Student Pharmacist of the Year winner will be selected from the State and Territory winners.
• The decision of the Judging Panel is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Awarding of the prize

• The State and Territory winners will be announced at the respective branch’s end-of-year parliamentary event.
• The awards overall winners will be announced at the opening plenary session of the 2026 APP conference to be held on the Gold Coast from 12-14 March 2026.
• All finalists will be invited to attend APP and provided a travel allowance for this purpose. The travel allowance will cover flights to APP conference 2026, accommodation and a limited bursary.
• All finalists will be recognised at this session with all videos played.

Publicity

• Photos and images will be taken through the competition and will be used for publicity purposes
• Videos will be created to highlight the success and achievements of the State and Territory finalists. They may be played in part or in full at APP 2026.
• A media announcement will be circulated in November to publicly announce the State and Territory winners.
• A media announcement will be made in March confirming the overall winner with the opportunity for media interviews, including with Australasian Pharmacy.

The Prize

All State and Territory winners will receive prize money and travel allowances in the following manner:

Travel Allowance

A travel allowance will be provided for selected finalists (from the State and Territory winners) to attend the APP Conference 2026, where the National Winners will be announced. The following is an outline of how much each finalist will receive.

• Student Pharmacist – $1500
• Community Pharmacist - $3000
• Community Pharmacy - $5000

Prize money for each State and Territory winner

• Student Pharmacist - $2000
• Community Pharmacy - $5000
• Community Pharmacist - $2500

Prize money for each award National Winner

• Student Pharmacist $5000
• Community Pharmacist - $7500
• Community Pharmacy - $15000

The organising body reserves the right to amend or substitute prizes at its discretion of an equal or greater value. All finalists will become members of the Guild Pharmacy Awards Alumni. The Guild Pharmacy Awards Alumni is a network of those community pharmacies and pharmacists that have been recognised as delivering outstanding care and service. Members are invited to exclusive events with opportunities for collaboration and networking.

Privacy

• The Guild collects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles the Entrants personal information in accordance with the terms of its Privacy Policy available at www.guild.org.au/about-us/privacy-policy.
• To protect Entrant’s privacy throughout the assessment, process the Guild will not provide any information whatsoever about Entries to anyone other than the Entrant Contacts as specified on the Entry.
• The Guild will not publish the name of any Entrant nor disclose or reproduce any information from any Entry where that Entrant has not been selected as a Finalist in respect of that Entry. If an Entrant is not successful as a Finalist, then their details remain confidential.
• All commercially sensitive or confidential information must be clearly marked ‘not for publication’ and submitted as an appendix. The Guild agrees to keep any information properly marked ‘not for publication’ confidential and that it will only be used by the Judging Panel for assessment purposes only.
• All personal data will be stored securely in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
• The Guild will retain entries and information associated with the entry for five years.