About Friendly Society Pharmacy

A Tradition of Care and Community Since the 1830s

 

Since the 1830s, long before the creation of universal healthcare, Friendly Societies have provided their members with access to good quality and affordable medical care. Their pharmacies, originally known as dispensaries, have been pillars of community health since the first was established in Sydney in 1847.

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Friendly Societies were typically founded by people who shared a trade, profession, faith or a common community need. In an era when medicines were costly and often adulterated, Friendly Society Pharmacies arose as a response to market failure. By establishing their own dispensaries on a not-for-profit, cooperative basis, members could guarantee that they and their families received safe, affordable, quality medicines.

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This commitment to access, ethics and quality continues today — a foundation of trust that has endured for nearly two centuries.

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What Makes a Friendly Society Pharmacy Different

 

In Australia, community pharmacy ownership is limited to Owner Pharmacists and Friendly Societies. While both models meet the same professional standards under their respective State and Territory Pharmacy Acts, the difference lies in purpose and structure.

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• Owner Pharmacist pharmacies are private businesses. The pharmacist assumes full responsibility for both the clinical and commercial operations — taking on the financial risk of owning or leasing premises, employing staff and ensuring compliance. Profitability is a key measure of success.

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• Friendly Society Pharmacies, by contrast, are governed by Boards of Directors drawn from their communities and managed by professional operational teams. Their pharmacists are employees, free to focus entirely on their professional healthcare role without the burden of business risk.

 

The Friendly Society model combines clinical excellence with community oversight, ensuring that every surplus is reinvested into improved services and community benefit — the essence of social enterprise in healthcare.

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The Social Enterprise Model in Practice

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Friendly Society Pharmacies are among Australia’s oldest and most enduring social enterprises. They exist to serve, not to profit. Surpluses are used to expand healthcare access, often beyond pharmacy, into areas such as:

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• Medical and allied health services.

• Aged care and independent living.

• Mobility and rehabilitation support.

• Optical and wellness centres.

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Today, many Friendly Societies have evolved into integrated health networks, providing diverse, locally governed services that respond directly to community needs.

 

This flexibility and reinvestment ethos distinguish Friendly Society Pharmacies as quiet achievers of healthcare, demonstrating what community-based ownership can deliver.

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A Nationwide Legacy

 

Friendly Societies once thrived across Australia and remain strong in regional and rural communities, where some have served continuously for over 100 years. Their contribution extends beyond dispensing medicines; they sustain local employment, reinvest in local services and help to keep healthcare accessible in places where other providers may have withdrawn.

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Friendly Society Pharmacies now represent around 2% of registered pharmacies in Australia, yet their social and economic impact far outweighs their size. They are the longest continuous operators of community pharmacy in Australia, proving that purpose-driven, cooperative enterprise has a lasting role in modern healthcare.

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The Future Looks Friendly

 

As healthcare evolves, the Friendly Society model remains profoundly relevant. It aligns perfectly with contemporary goals of sustainability, social enterprise, and equitable access.

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By combining the rigour of professional pharmacy practice with mutual ownership and a community mandate, Friendly Society Pharmacies embody the future of people-centred primary care — locally governed, accountable and reinvesting surplus in the health and wellbeing of their communities.