The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) is the national professional organisation for more than 5,200 pharmacists, pharmacist interns, students, technicians and associates working across Australia's health system. SHPA is the only professional pharmacy organisation with a strong base of members practising in public and private hospitals and other health services.

About us
SHPA supports pharmacists to meet medication and related service needs, so that both optimal health outcomes and economic objectives are achieved for individual Australians, for the community as a whole and for healthcare facilities.

For nearly 80 years, SHPA has represented and advocated for pharmacists working in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Hospital pharmacists operate at the highest levels of pharmacy and healthcare, and represent the greatest expertise in the design and development of professional pharmacy services to support positive patient outcomes.

SHPA members lead the Pharmacy Departments in all of Australia's principal referral hospitals, as well as the vast majority of both Public Acute A and Public Acute B hospitals. 75% of all hospitals (public and private) have their pharmacy departments led by SHPA members. SHPA members are also employed in a range of innovative outreach and liaison services in community healthcare settings.

History
SHPA was established in 1941 following the pioneering efforts of 25 public hospital pharmacists from Victoria. From 1947 to 1964 other across Australia branches were established (South Australia and the Northern Territory share a branch). The inaugural meeting of the national council and first national conference were held in Adelaide in 1961. SHPA is governed by a Board of Directors which is supported by Branches and Committees of Specialty Practice. All councilors and branch committee members are volunteers and are elected by the membership.

Member Statement
We exist to promote and protect the well-being of all members. To achieve this objective, we will actively increase understanding by governments and the wider community of the range, complexity and value of the work of our members. We will keep our members informed of the advocacy and representation undertaken on their behalf.

We will monitor the dynamics of the marketplace and we will design and implement skills development programs, training and peer support to protect and enhance the careers of our members. Where appropriate, we will form partnerships with other organisations and we will create opportunities for our members to design and implement our programs and projects.

To guarantee the ongoing value of SHPA to members, we will develop effective, transparent business processes that support better management of the Society and enhance the quality of our work. We will create value propositions to support a continual growth in membership.