Seed and Australian Community Pharmacy Authority

The applicant, Seed, sought approval to supply pharmaceutical benefits from proposed premises. The Australian Community Pharmacy Authority (ACPA) had refused this approval. The matter came before Deputy President Bernard J McCabe of the Tribunal for review.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the proposed premises were "not directly accessible by the public from within a supermarket," as stipulated by item 212 of the relevant legislative instrument. This question hinged on whether the applicant's business, from which pharmaceutical benefits were to be supplied, could be characterised as a supermarket. A secondary issue, the "access issue," was contingent on the first.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's business could not be properly characterised as a supermarket. Consequently, item 212 did not present an obstacle to the approval. As the Tribunal had reached this conclusion, it was not necessary to determine the "access issue." Furthermore, the parties conceded that an issue arising under item 211 was no longer in contention.

Given these determinations, the Tribunal set aside the reviewable decision of the ACPA. The Tribunal decided in substitution to recommend to the Secretary of the Department of Health that the application to supply pharmaceutical benefits from the proposed premises be approved.