Navigating Australian pharmacies: A comprehensive guide for newcomers

Pharmacies in Australia are well endowed with a variety of products from all the brands, sizes and qualities and of course different prices. The best part is that the products sold in the pharmacies are not just for when you feel unwell, they sell everything! In this post we will tell you all you can find in the pharmacies in Australia and how to navigate through them because it is a place that you will visit very often. 

It is important to mention that pharmacies in Australia operate differently to what we are used to in Colombia and here we will tell you the main differences.  

Lets get started!

The basics

Location 

Pharmacies are everywhere in Australia, sometimes there are two per block (you would be surprised!) and there are different chains but the products are pretty much the same, the main differences are regarding prices and size of the pharmacy but we will talk about this later on. 

Working Hours 

Pharmacies in Australia open at a reasonable time but not that early. Normally at 8am it is the opening time, the good thing is they close around 8:00 or 9:00 pm in some suburbs. 

Chemist warehouse vs independent pharmacies

Chemist warehouse is probably the chain with more coverage in Australia and in my opinion with the most affordable prices. In some suburbs there are smaller independent pharmacies but still you can find pretty much the same, perhaps slightly more expensive and with some variation in the brand of some of the products. 

Size 

The size of the pharmacies in Australia is large-scale or at least bigger than in Colombia. Once you enter you will find shelves and aisles with all sorts of products. You just grab the stuff you need and go to the cashier machine where someone will scan the products and tell you how much you need to pay.

There is no self service in the Australian pharmacies but the staff is pretty efficient and you do not need to wait a long time in the queue. 

What to find in a pharmacy? 

Honestly everything! pharmacies operate as a mini supermarket of medicines, health products and day to day items. 

First Aid / day to day 

You will find bandages, creams for muscular pain, vick vaporub, syrups for stopping coughing, cold and allergy relief pills, products for the stomach such as antiparasitics, gas and pain treatments. Continuing you can find mouth care (teeth brush, tooth paste, mouth wash), sexual health products and muscular relief creams and balms. Women’s care products and baby supplies occupy big areas. 

Controlled medicine 

There are medicines in Australia that are not over the counter; you only can access them with a doctor’s prescription. This includes antibiotics, some antihistamines, asthma medicines, chronic pain pills, vaccines, and medicines for heart problems. The reasons for not being available in the shelves vary but mainly to avoid people self-medicating or abusing some pain killers and creating addiction. However, you will be able to find some medicines for minor pain without prescription such as ibuprofen and paracetamol. 

Prescription area

It is an enclosed area inside the pharmacy (generally at the back) where you can find the controlled medicines. When you visit the doctor and receive a formula with medications you can go to the pharmacy and walk straight to prescriptions with the medical form. The pharmacist will receive the prescription and hand the medicine to you. Normally they would ask if you had that same medicine before and will repeat the same dose and timing of the day that the doctor said to you. 

Beauty 

You will also find an extensive list of products for the hair. However, do not expect to find all the treatments with gusano de seda, embrion de pato and biotin in envelopes as in Colombia and at the same price!. Prices are higher in Australia for this type of product and also the size of the bottles has more volume. 

Skin care includes all the selection of creams from moisturisers, serums to acne treatments, and creams for the body. 

There is a large section assigned for makeup, nail polish, hair accessories and fragrances. Another area with higher importance in Australian Pharmacies is the one allocated for sun protection. There are many types of sunscreens, sometimes heavily discounted. As you might know Australia has had many cases of skin cancer so a way to mitigate this is promoting the use of sunscreen. 

Health 

Vitamins, complementary medicines and supplements for women and men are available.There are also several lines of healthy products that are sold in small packages such as nuts, almonds, chia seeds, maca powder and others. 

Random items

In Australian pharmacies you will find articles that you do not expect to find. For example, in the side aisles you will see shoes, insoles, travel adaptors, socks, compression socks and products to clean the house. It was new to me to see standard reading glasses without prescription just with the predetermined magnifications. 

Getting a good deal 

Prices 

The cost of the medicines in Australia is not ultra cheap, but it is not too expensive compared with the average salary. If you compare the prices of medicines in Latin America well, you will probably be impressed by how expensive it seems.

On the other hand you are not able to buy one or a few pills or “el sello” from a box of medicines, you must buy the whole box.

Discounts

Many articles are discounted every time you visit the pharmacies. If you want to buy something specific at a discount then you should go often and check if it is discounted the day you go, or take a look online or get the weekly or fortnightly catalog that i will explain in the next paragraph. 

Catalogs

Some pharmacies print catalogs with the products they are discounting. Normally, there is a big sign saying how much the discount is, if it is half price or if it is a 30% reduction. 

Depending on the item the discounts can be very significant so be aware of this because you might want to buy a few items and have them in reserve. Catalog also brings some interesting health related articles that you can use to read and practice your English while you are on the train. 

Things to be aware of 

Injections in the pharmacies 

It is rare that you can get an injection in a Pharmacy in Australia. There are some pharmacies registered for this purpose but I have honestly never been in one where this could be done. Normally, you buy the ampoule in the pharmacy but then you take it into the clinic or hospital and a nurse will do that (sometimes you need an appointment in advance for this). 

Advice from the pharmacist

It is not common that you receive advice from the pharmacist in Australia regarding a type of medicine or about dosage. Pharmacists would guide you to find where in the shelves are the medicines that you are looking for and show you the brands but apart from that they can not do anything else.

Remember that the doctor is the only person that can prescribe you medicine and is going to give you the medicines on a paper. The time that you have a full interaction with a pharmacist is when you go to the prescription area and ask for a specific medicine that was sent to you. 

Pharmacists can witness documents 

As you might know at this point in Australia you need to prove your identity to do many processes. For example if you are applying for a visa, the government will ask you to provide a certified copy of documents.

This process involves someone (generally there is a list with professionals in Australia allowed to do this) inspecting the document, verifying if it is you and comparing with the photocopy that you are showing. Then the professional, in this case a pharmacist, proceeds to stamp and sign the document and write a statement saying that the copy is an exact reproduction of the original. 

To finalise 

After reading all these points you are ready to visit a pharmacy in Australia and shop like an expert. Remember that if you need something very specific or you feel unwell visit the GP and get the prescription in case you need one.