About our Council and members

We manage concerns about how pharmacists behave, their professional performance, or whether their health is affecting patient care. We also regulate pharmacy businesses in NSW. 

We work closely with the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) to regulate registered practitioners. Both regulators are entrusted with protecting the public, but we have different powers under the law. 

The HCCC can conduct investigations and prosecute practitioners. The Council helps them meet the standards needed to practise safely, and this can include placing restrictions, or conditions, on their registration. 

We have emergency interim powers to suspend practitioners if we decide there is an immediate public safety risk – or if we need to take action in the public interest. But our role is to protect patients rather than punish practitioners. 

• Learn more about the complaints process
• See how we regulate pharmacy businesses

Disputes between pharmacists or customer service issues such as billing are handled by other bodies such as the Fair Work Commission, or the Fair Work Ombudsman. 

Check if we can handle your complaint 

The Pharmacy Council is one of 15 Health Professional Councils in NSW. We have 7 professional pharmacist members, 2 community members and one legal member.

Community, legal and some practitioner members apply in response to public advertisements calling for expressions of interest. The remaining practitioner members are elected.

The NSW Minister for Health nominates 2 practitioner members and the legal and community members based on the skills, experience and knowledge needed for the role. 

Interested in working with us? Learn how to get involved. 

President and Pharmacist

Mr Rick Samimi 

Deputy President and Pharmacist

Dr Cherie Lucas 

Practitioner members 

Ms Caroline Diamantis
Mr Tim Hewitt
Ms Kate Gray
Mr Quinn On
Ms Teresa Melocco

Community member

Ms Anne Gripper

Vacant

Legal member

Ms Ingrid King

The HPCA manages the Council’s day-to-day business, from initial complaints assessment to complaint case management, and monitoring practitioners with conditions on their registration. 

We work closely with our HPCA executive officer and their team, and other staff members across the HPCA, who provide legal, financial and other corporate advice. 

Their work is important to our role as the regulatory decision maker. We have different, but complementary, responsibilities.

Understand how NSW regulators work together 

We consult regularly across the pharmacy sector to discuss key issues and trends in regulation and across the profession more broadly.

We run stakeholder forums and events and attend workshops and meetings with other regulators to build shared approaches to helping pharmacists meet their obligations. 

And we collaborate widely, with NSW arms of professional associations such as Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, education and training bodies, and indemnity providers. We also work closely with regulators including the NSW Health Pharmaceutical Services Unit and the Health Care Complaints Commission.

The important conversations we have will help us collectively support pharmacists in the demanding professional environment they face today. As pharmacy evolves, the importance of being an accountable, ethical, safe practitioner is even more important than ever.

Our 2026 pharmacy stakeholder event