This blog is for all the pharmacists who want to pursue their career in Australia. Australia is one of the best choices for pharmacists considering its work-life balance, attractive salaries, opportunities for career growth and the strong job demand especially in the rural and regional areas. If you are unaware of the process of how to become a pharmacist in Australia here are a few steps for you:
Step-by-Step Guide How to Become a Pharmacist in Australia
- Get your eligibility check done and skills assessed by the Australian Pharmacy Council or APC by submitting the required documents that the APC asks for (To know about document evaluation, please read:)
- Once you receive a positive response from the APC, you can apply for the OPRA exam in the candidate portal and start preparing.
- Pass the OPRA exam and apply for a Visa based on your feasibility.
- Migrate to Australia and apply for provisional registration.
- Moving forward, find an internship and complete 1575 hours of your internship under a registered pharmacist or a preceptor.
- Before completing the internship, you must take two more exams after completing at least 75% of the internship hours.
- Complete the Intern written exam conducted by APC and the Intern Oral exam conducted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
- Once you have completed the intern examinations and internship hours, you can register as a fully
registered pharmacist, and you will be eligible to practise in Australia without supervision.
Also Read: How to Become a Pharmacist in Australia ( In-detail)
Many blogs explain the steps mentioned above on the Elite Expertise website, where you can get in-depth knowledge about these steps. Now that you have understood the process, let’s look into the Australian Pharmacist Intern Written exam in this blog.
Why is this OPRA Exam Needed?
The Intern Written exam tests your skills, experience, knowledge, and understanding as a pharmacy intern. It assesses the knowledge and practical skills you gained through your experience in the intern program to check if you are on par with the Australian Healthcare system.
Who is eligible for this OPRA Exam:
You can register to sit the Intern Written exam if you:
- Are you provisionally registered with the Pharmacy Board of Australia (PharmBA), or you were registered in the past, and
- Have completed at least 75% of the required supervised practice hours required for general registration or will have completed the hours by the exam date.
Note: If you register for the exam but do not meet the required internship hours for some reason, you will need to pay a cancellation fee.
Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About the OPRA Exam Syllabus
OPRA Exam Pattern/Format:
Duration of exam: This exam is conducted for a total of 2 hours.
- Before starting the exam, you have 15 minutes to complete a tutorial and to understand or familiarise yourself with the exam software.
- After the exam, you will be given 5 minutes to complete a survey
- These 15 + 5 minutes are not included in the 2 hours exam time.
Total number of questions: 75 questions in total
- Out of which, 67 questions are scored, and
- 8 questions are unscored or pilot questions.
- All these questions are randomised, meaning they are all jumbled in the exam.
- This exam has an open book format, which means that the candidate can bring any printed, handwritten material, such as journals, textbooks, or publications, to the exam centre, but no blank papers are allowed.
- You can flag the questions if you have difficulty answering them or decide to attempt them later and return to them later.
- The candidate must answer all 75 questions.
- All these questions are MCQ or multiple-choice based. There are four options provided, and you must pick one correct answer from each option.
- Some of the questions will relate to a patient profile.
Cost or fee: AU$770 per attempt, which would be approximately INR42000 (As of March 2025).
| Registration period | Exam dates | Results released |
| 7 January – 27 January 2025 | 17 – 18 February 2025 | 13/03/2025 |
| 18 March – 19 May 2025 | 16 – 17 June 2025 | 10/07/2025 |
| 15 July – 1 September 2025 | 6 – 8 October 2025 | 30/10/2025 |
Test centres in Australia
The test centres are only available in Australia, and you can take your exam at these locations.
| Test centre |
| Adelaide |
| Brisbane |
| Canberra |
| Darwin |
| Hobart |
| Melbourne |
| Perth |
| Sydney |
| Townsville |
Also Read: Know OPRA Exam Dates and Exam Centres
Exam result:
- The pass standard of the exam is set to a level that demonstrates competency.
- Your pass standard is set so that you meet the required competency level.
- The level of difficulty remains constant across the period; that is, results over previous years are analysed to ensure that fairness and equity are maintained over time.
- Psychometric and evidence-based techniques are used to ensure the reliability, validity, and fairness of the exams for all APC candidates.
Question content:
| Content Category | Candidate Competency Assessed in Area Including |
| Calculations | Drug half-lives Required dosages Drug concentrations |
| Counselling | Drug interactions Drug management Health promotion activities High-risk drugs Paediatrics |
| Dosage Forms | Drug preparations Drug packaging Drug labelling |
| First Aid Competency | Primary care Injuries (sporting, accidental, trauma) Acute and sudden illness (chest pains, shortness of breath, loss of consciousness) |
| Law and Ethics | Application of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) PBS Authority prescriptions, prescriptions, and Special Access Scheme (SAS) considerations Drug schedules, Health Practitioner National Law Patient confidentiality and privacy provisions, PharmBA codes and guidelines |
| Therapeutic Areas and Disease State Management | Analgesic Antibiotic Cardiovascular Dermatology Endocrinology Ear, nose, and throat Eye Gastrointestinal Malignant Disease Nervous system Respiratory Rheumatology Vaccines |
Exam Content Areas or Exam Syllabus:
There are 6 main content areas for this exam to prepare:
- Practise within applicable legal framework: Professionalism and ethics
- Develop a patient-centred, culturally responsive approach to medication management: Medicines management and patient care.
- Implement the medication management strategy or plan: Medicines management and patient care.
- Monitor and evaluate medication management: Medicines management and patient care
- Compound medicines: Medicines management and patient care.
- Promote health and well-being: Medicines management and patient care.
Law and ethics content area
Pharmacists must comply with a range of:
- Legislative instruments, codes, guidelines, and standards You’ll often need to make professional decisions at work. This professional judgment is underpinned by:
- Codes of practice, guidelines, and relevant regulations, such as the Privacy Act. This means you’ll want to familiarise yourself with the following references for the Law and Ethics section.
| Indicative element as outlined in the Pharmacy Competency Standards | Possible source or reference |
| a. Applicable Commonwealth legislative framework, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Principles of scheduling | Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – Department of Health Scheduling basics – Therapeutic Goods Administration Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 National Health Act 1953 |
| b. Code of conduct, policies and guidelines, mandatory notifications, social media policy, advertising legislation and guidelines | Codes, Guidelines and Policies published by the Pharmacy Board of Australia Guidelines on Mandatory Notifications – Ahpra Guidelines for advertising regulated health services – Ahpra Advertising health services with Schedule 3, Schedule 4, or Schedule 8 medicines – Therapeutic Goods Administration Advertising to the public. Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code (No. 2). 2018 – Therapeutic Goods Administration |
| c. The duty of care to the health care consumer and the wider public: concept, scope and application of professional ethics, including gaining informed consent | Australian Charter of Health Care Rights – Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Disability and equal opportunity legislation Australian Consumer Law The Privacy Act Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) My Health Record – Australian Digital Health Agency |
| d. Professional standards and guidelines for practice. Self-reflection and reflective practice, self-audit, continuing professional development, and maintenance of competency | National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists (2016) Professional Practice Standards v5 – Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Codes, guidelines, and policies published by the Pharmacy Board of Australia |
OPRA Exam Sample papers:
The APC website has a sample paper that simulates the exam difficulty and conditions. This can help you understand the exam better.
Conclusion
If you pass the Australian Pharmacist Intern Written exam, you will be one step closer to your goal. This assesses your ability to get to know your pharmacist’s professional skills into practise without any supervision. The APC intern written exam is in open book format, but it is not that easy considering the vast portion or syllabus.
This journey would be made easy with some mentoring. Elite Expertise’s trainers, Mr. Arief Mohammad and Mrs. Harika Bheemavarapu, who are clinical pharmacists, can ensure you easily attempt the exam with their experience and expertise in the field. So, contact us for any help in the journey you need in your preparation. All the Best!
⚠️Disclaimer
This blog provides general information on the Australian Pharmacist Intern Written Exam and reflects our views. Guidelines may change, so verify details with official sources like APC and Ahpra. We are not responsible for decisions made based on this content.
