{"id":"qld:sl-2025-0131","name":"Pharmacy Business Ownership Regulation 2025","slug":"pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"qld","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"131 of 2025","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173685,"registerId":"qld-sl-2025-0131-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"sch.1-pt.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"# Preliminary","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"sch.1-sec.1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definition for schedule","content":"### sch.1-sec.1 Definition for schedule\n\nIn this schedule—\ndispensary means an area dedicated to storing and dispensing medicines.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"sch.1-pt.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Standards","content":"# Standards","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"sch.2-pt.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"# Preliminary","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"sch.2-sec.1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions for schedule","content":"### sch.2-sec.1 Definitions for schedule\n\nIn this schedule—\ntier 1 application means—\nan application by 1 person, if the person’s ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates—\ndoes not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\ninvolves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust; or\nan application made jointly by 2 persons, if—\nnot more than 1 of the persons is a corporation; and\nthe persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates—\ndoes not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\ninvolves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\ntier 2 application means—\nan application by 1 person, if the person’s ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates involves ownership as trustee of only 2 trusts; or\nan application made jointly by 2 persons, if—\nit is not a tier 1 application; and\nthe persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates—\ndoes not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\ninvolves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\nan application made jointly by 3, 4 or 5 persons, if—\nnot more than 2 of the persons are corporations; and\nthe persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates—\ndoes not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\ninvolves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\ntier 3 application means an application other than a tier 1 application or tier 2 application.\n- (a) an application by 1 person, if the person’s ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (i) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (ii) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust; or\n- (i) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (ii) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust; or\n- (b) an application made jointly by 2 persons, if— (i) not more than 1 of the persons is a corporation; and (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (i) not more than 1 of the persons is a corporation; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (i) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (ii) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust; or\n- (i) not more than 1 of the persons is a corporation; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 trust.\n- (a) an application by 1 person, if the person’s ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates involves ownership as trustee of only 2 trusts; or\n- (b) an application made jointly by 2 persons, if— (i) it is not a tier 1 application; and (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (i) it is not a tier 1 application; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (c) an application made jointly by 3, 4 or 5 persons, if— (i) not more than 2 of the persons are corporations; and (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\n- (i) not more than 2 of the persons are corporations; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\n- (i) it is not a tier 1 application; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts; or\n- (i) not more than 2 of the persons are corporations; and\n- (ii) the persons’ joint ownership of the pharmacy business to which the application relates— (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.\n- (A) does not involve ownership as trustee of a trust; or\n- (B) involves ownership as trustee of only 1 or 2 trusts.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"sch.2-pt.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Fees","content":"# Fees","sortOrder":5}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This appears to be a focused regulation dealing specifically with pharmacy business ownership structures and fee categorization. The content aligns with the title and expected scope — defining application tiers based on ownership complexity. No evidence of scope creep beyond the original purpose of regulating pharmacy ownership."},"complexity_factors":["Three-tier classification system with overlapping conditions","Multiple nested logical operators (if/then, and/or combinations)","Cross-references between tiers (Tier 2 explicitly references Tier 1)","Complex counting rules (\"not more than 1 corporation\", \"only 1 or 2 trusts\")","Duplicated formatting artifacts in the text (repeated sub-paragraphs with bullet points) creating visual clutter and potential ambiguity","Conditional logic based on both entity type (individual vs corporation) and legal structure (trusts)","Joint ownership scenarios adding multiplicative complexity (2, 3, 4, or 5 persons)"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation sets rules for who can own a pharmacy business in Australia and how much they pay in fees when applying for approval.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Defines key terms** like \"dispensary\" (the area where medicines are stored and given out)\n- **Creates three tiers of applications** based on how complex the ownership structure is:\n  - **Tier 1**: Simplest applications — one person owning alone (with 0 or 1 trust), or two people owning together (with at most one being a company, and 0 or 1 trust)\n  - **Tier 2**: More complex — one person with exactly 2 trusts, or two people with more complex arrangements, or 3-5 people (with at most 2 being companies and up to 2 trusts)\n  - **Tier 3**: Everything else — the most complicated ownership structures\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- People applying to own or co-own a pharmacy business\n- Pharmacists setting up ownership through trusts or corporate structures\n- Anyone applying for approval to run a pharmacy (the fees section suggests different fees apply to different tiers)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nPharmacy ownership in Australia is strictly regulated to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure qualified professionals control medicine supply. This legislation determines how complicated your ownership structure can be before you face higher fees or stricter scrutiny. The tier system means simpler ownership = simpler (and likely cheaper) applications, while complex corporate or trust arrangements face more regulatory burden."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The regulation appears incomplete — Schedule 2 Part 2 (Fees) is referenced in the heading but no fee amounts or details are provided. This suggests the document as presented is truncated, meaning the full operative scope (the actual fee consequences of tier classification) cannot be assessed. The practical scope of the regulation is therefore unclear from this text alone."},"complexity_factors":["Multi-layered conditional logic with nested criteria across three tiers (number of applicants, number of corporations, number of trusts — all interacting)","The document appears to repeat its own content multiple times in both structured and listed formats, creating confusion about the authoritative version of each provision","Trust law concepts (trusteeship) require background legal knowledge to understand","The tier definitions are defined by exclusion as well as inclusion — Tier 3 is defined only as 'anything that is not Tier 1 or Tier 2', requiring the reader to work through both other definitions first","The fee schedule referenced (Schedule 2, Part 2) is not actually provided, leaving a critical gap in understanding the practical consequences of tier classification","The document structure mixes schedule references (sch.1, sch.2) in a way that is potentially disorienting — the preliminary definitions appear in Schedule 1 but tier definitions appear in Schedule 2","Corporation versus individual distinctions add an additional variable layer to an already multi-variable classification system"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation defines who may own a pharmacy business and sorts ownership applications into a three-tier complexity/fee system based on number of applicants, corporate involvement, and trust arrangements. It sets basic operational expectations, including a dedicated dispensary area.\n\nIt affects pharmacists, prospective owners, investor companies, and trustees: your tier influences application fees, required information, and likely scrutiny, with more complex ownership structures facing higher costs and oversight."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":8,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The supplied text confines itself to definitions and a tiered classification scheme for ownership applications. It does not, on its face, expand or narrow the types of pharmacy activity regulated; it instead provides rules for sorting applicants into tiers (sch.1-sec.1; sch.2-sec.1) and leaves fee detail unspecified (sch.2-pt.2). No provision in the excerpt indicates a change to the substantive scope of regulated conduct."},"complexity_factors":["Layered conditional definitions: tiers are defined by multiple nested conditions (number of applicants, number of corporations among applicants, and number of trusts) creating complex rule combinations (sch.2-sec.1).","High evidentiary and compliance burden: classification depends on proving trustee status and counting trusts and corporate applicants, increasing documentation and verification costs for applicants and administrators (sch.2-sec.1).","Repetition and formatting errors: the text contains duplicated and fragmented clauses which increase interpretive uncertainty and risk inconsistent application (sch.2-sec.1).","Unspecified consequences per tier: the schedule sets classification criteria but does not specify the distinct procedural requirements, thresholds or outcomes tied to each tier within the supplied text, forcing reliance on external rules or administrative discretion (sch.2-sec.1; sch.2-pt.2).","Missing or partial provisions: the Fees part is named but contains no substantive content in the excerpt, leaving fee impact and who pays unclear (sch.2-pt.2).","Ambiguous terminology scope: while 'dispensary' is defined (sch.1-sec.1), other critical terms used in classification (for example, 'trust') are not defined in the supplied text, raising interpretive issues (sch.1-sec.1; sch.2-sec.1).","Concentrated decision points: many edge cases (joint applicants, trustee-of-multiple-trusts) create focal points for administrative discretion and potential for inconsistent treatment among similar applicants (sch.2-sec.1)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument defines a “dispensary” and establishes a three‑tier classification (tier 1–3) for pharmacy business ownership applications based on number of applicants, corporate status and how many trusts are held. It affects prospective pharmacy owners and the regulator by sorting applications into categories that will determine what application pathway, fees or checks apply, so applicants must document corporate and trust ownership precisely."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025","history":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/pharmacy-business-ownership-regulation-2025/documents"}}