In short: Getting a WA pharmacy purchase to settlement costs more than the price on the contract. You need to qualify as an owner under WA’s ownership rules, register the premises, get Board and federal approval to supply PBS medicines, and fund legal, financial and valuation due diligence along the way. If the deal falls through, most of that spend doesn’t come back. Treating these costs as a separate budget line, not a footnote, is what keeps a purchase on track.
Every pharmacy sale contract has a headline price. What it actually costs to get from an accepted offer to a settled, trading pharmacy is a different number entirely, and in Western Australia it’s shaped by rules that don’t apply anywhere else in Australia in quite the same way.
This article covers the WA-specific ownership and licensing position that most buying-a-pharmacy guides skip past, and treats the professional fees, government charges and approval costs between offer and settlement as a real budget line rather than a footnote.
Not every reader needs every section here. If you’re checking whether you’re even eligible to own a pharmacy in WA, start with who is allowed to own a pharmacy below. If you’re already under contract, skip to due diligence and what it costs. If you just want the fee numbers, go straight to duty, registration and government charges.
The costs that sit between an accepted offer and a settled pharmacy
An accepted offer isn’t a settled purchase. Between the two sits a specific sequence of eligibility checks, registrations, approvals and due diligence, each with its own cost, and most of it has to happen whether or not the deal ultimately settles.
For a pharmacy specifically, that sequence is longer than for most small businesses. You’re not just buying a business in WA, you’re buying one that comes with extra conditions attached. Three things specifically stand between an accepted offer and a settled WA pharmacy:
- Confirming you’re legally allowed to own it
- Getting the premises and the business itself re-registered
- Securing separate federal approval to keep dispensing medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
Each is covered in detail below, each carries its own cost and timeline, and none of them are optional.
Who is allowed to own a pharmacy in Western Australia
Before you spend a dollar on due diligence, it’s worth asking a blunt question first: can anyone own a pharmacy in Australia? Not with the purchase price alone, ownership is restricted by law, and WA has its own specific test.
The ownership test under the Pharmacy Act 2010 (WA)
Under the Pharmacy Act 2010 (WA), a pharmacy business can only be owned by a registered pharmacist or by specific entities the Act permits, such as a pharmacist controlled company. The Pharmacy Registration Board of Western Australia’s ownership guidelines set out exactly who qualifies. This exists to keep pharmacies under the control of people accountable to the profession, rather than purely commercial investors, and it’s the first thing worth confirming before you go further, not something to assume.
How many pharmacies one pharmacist may own
A pharmacist can’t accumulate an unlimited number of pharmacies in WA. The cap sits at four pharmacies at any one time, whether held directly or through a proprietary interest (a financial or beneficial stake in the business, even without being its registered legal owner). If you already have an interest in other pharmacies, this is worth checking early, it can rule a purchase out entirely regardless of how good the numbers look.
Pharmacist controlled companies and family members
A pharmacy doesn’t have to be owned by a pharmacist personally, it can be owned through a pharmacist controlled company. For a company to qualify:
- Every director must be a pharmacist or a close family member of one
- Every shareholder must meet the same test
- A pharmacist must control more than half the voting power
Family involvement is allowed, but the structure still has to keep a pharmacist in control, and the Act has specific provisions for what happens to a family member’s interest if that family relationship ends.
The approvals a WA pharmacy purchase depends on
Passing the ownership test doesn’t finish the paperwork, it starts it. Three separate approvals sit between an eligible buyer and a trading pharmacy under new ownership.
| Approval | Who grants it | When it needs to happen |
|---|---|---|
| Premises registration | Pharmacy Registration Board of WA | Before trading, application lodged at least 20 working days before a Board meeting |
| Change of ownership notification | Pharmacy Registration Board of WA | Alongside settlement |
| PBS supply approval | Australian Government Department of Health | Confirmed on settlement day itself |
Counting backward from a target settlement date makes both hard deadlines above easier to plan around: lodge the PBS ownership change application at least six weeks out, to clear the 30 business day processing window with some margin, and lodge the premises registration application as soon as the contract allows, since it has to clear a Board meeting at least 20 working days after you apply, and Board meetings don’t happen continuously.
Registering the premises as a pharmacy
The premises itself needs to be registered with the Pharmacy Registration Board of WA, which checks things like public street access and general condition, not just who owns the business. As at 2025-26, the application fee is $1,150, with a $950 renewal and smaller fees for variations. Applications need to be lodged at least 20 working days before a Board meeting, so this isn’t something to leave until the week before settlement. The same registration path applies whether you’re buying an existing pharmacy or working out how to open a pharmacy in Australia from scratch, though a new premises application typically takes longer to satisfy than a straightforward change of ownership.
Notifying the Board of a change of ownership
Separately, the Board needs to be notified of the intended change of ownership itself, with current premises and building plans supplied as part of that notification. Once ownership changes, signage showing the new owner has to be clearly displayed at every public entry, it’s a small requirement, but one that’s easy to miss amid everything else happening on settlement day. This step is sometimes loosely called a pharmacy licence transfer, though in WA it’s really a change-of-ownership notification rather than a single licence being handed from one person to another.
The separate federal approval to supply PBS medicines
State registration doesn’t cover PBS dispensing rights, that’s a separate federal approval under section 90 of the National Health Act 1953:
- The buyer applies through the PBS Approved Suppliers Portal
- The Department of Health processes the application, taking up to 30 business days
- On settlement day itself, outstanding documents are confirmed to the Department before 4pm Canberra time
- Only then is the new owner approved to supply PBS medicines
Miss that window and the pharmacy can legally change hands without being able to dispense PBS scripts the next morning, which is about as costly a gap as this process has.
Due diligence, and what it costs
Due diligence is where most of the pre-settlement budget actually goes, and it’s worth engaging the right professional for each part rather than asking one advisor to cover all three.
Financial due diligence
An accountant reviews the pharmacy’s financials to confirm the earnings figure being used to justify the price actually holds up, adjusted for:
- Owner’s wage
- One-off items
- Related-party rent
This is the same normalisation work covered in our guide to buying a pharmacy, and it’s not a cost worth skipping to save a few hundred dollars.
Legal due diligence and the sale contract
A lawyer reviews the sale contract itself:
- The conditions
- The warranties (the seller’s formal promises about the state of the business)
- What happens if an approval is delayed
- How the price is apportioned between goodwill, stock and equipment, which matters for both duty and finance
This fee is payable regardless of whether the deal settles, so it’s one of the costs that’s genuinely at risk if the purchase falls through.
The lease, and why it can decide the whole deal
If the pharmacy operates from leased premises, the lease terms can override everything else. Any of these can undermine a purchase that looks sound on every other measure:
- A short remaining lease term
- A landlord who won’t consent to assignment (transferring the lease to you as the new tenant)
- A rent review clause that lets the landlord reset the rent on a change of ownership
Lease due diligence needs to happen early, not as a formality once everything else is agreed.
Professional fees to budget for
Across the process, you’re typically engaging several different professionals, each for a different part of the job:
| Professional | What they cover |
|---|---|
| Accountant | Financial due diligence |
| Lawyer | Contract and lease review |
| Valuer | Independent verification of the goodwill, stock or equipment figure, if needed |
| Broker | Structuring finance so professional fees and government charges don’t become a cash flow problem before settlement |
None of these fees are contingent on the deal settling, they’re payable for the work done, which is exactly why they need to be budgeted for upfront rather than assumed to come out of settlement proceeds.
Duty, registration and government charges
This is where the goodwill, stock and equipment split from your purchase price actually matters for cost, not just for finance. Under WA’s Duties Act 2008:
- Dutiable (duty is calculated on it): goodwill, and plant and equipment when transferred with other dutiable property
- Not dutiable: stock-in-trade, specifically excluded from duty
That means the way your price is apportioned across the three components doesn’t just affect your finance structure, it affects what you pay in duty too.
On top of duty, budget for the WA premises registration fee ($1,150 for a new application at current rates), and be aware the PBS approval process, while it doesn’t carry a stated government fee itself, does carry a real cost if its 30 business day timeline isn’t planned around your settlement date.
Here’s every cost from this article in one place, to build your settlement budget from:
| Cost item | Amount or basis | When it’s payable |
|---|---|---|
| Premises registration application | $1,150 (2025-26 rate) | Lodged with the Board, before trading |
| Premises registration renewal | $950 (2025-26 rate) | Annually, ongoing |
| Transfer duty on goodwill and equipment | Calculated on the dutiable value | After settlement, once an assessment notice issues |
| Duty on stock-in-trade | Not payable, specifically excluded | n/a |
| Financial due diligence | Fee for service | Regardless of whether the deal settles |
| Legal due diligence and contract review | Fee for service | Regardless of whether the deal settles |
| Independent valuation, if required | Fee for service | Regardless of whether the deal settles |
| PBS supply approval application | No stated government fee | Processed within up to 30 business days |
| Contract deposit | Set by the contract, not a fixed amount | At risk if the deal doesn’t settle, check the terms before you pay it |
What it costs when a deal does not settle
If a purchase falls through after due diligence has started, most of what’s been spent doesn’t come back:
- Accounting, legal and valuation fees are paid for work done, not for a successful outcome
- Any deposit paid under the contract is governed by its own terms, worth knowing exactly what those terms say before you pay it, not after
- If a premises registration application has already been lodged with the Board, that fee is also unlikely to be refunded
This is the practical argument for sequencing your spend carefully, covered next, rather than for avoiding due diligence altogether.
The order that keeps costs down
The costs above aren’t optional, but the order you incur them in is within your control, and it’s the single biggest lever over how much a failed deal costs you.
- Confirm you pass the ownership test and sit under the four-pharmacy cap, before you spend anything else. This costs nothing but time and rules out a purchase you were never eligible to complete.
- Review the lease terms early, ideally before committing to a fully paid financial and legal due diligence process, since a lease problem can kill a deal that due diligence would otherwise pass.
- Commission financial and legal due diligence together, once eligibility and the lease are confirmed, so you’re not paying twice to revisit assumptions.
- Lodge the premises registration and PBS ownership change applications as soon as the contract allows, given their lead times, rather than waiting until settlement is imminent.
- Confirm your finance structure accounts for duty and registration costs on top of the purchase price, not as an afterthought once settlement is scheduled.
Here’s how Southshore Finance can help:
- Confirm your finance capacity and structure before you commit to due diligence costs, so you’re not spending on a deal you can’t fund.
- Structure funding that accounts for duty, registration fees and professional costs alongside the purchase price itself, rather than assuming they come out of working capital on the day.
- Connect you with lenders who understand buying a business in WA specifically, not just a generic small business assessment.
- Support the numbers behind your application with our experience across WA’s pharmacy and healthcare finance market.
Getting the sequence right protects your due diligence spend as much as it protects your settlement date. Ready to talk through your pharmacy purchase? Learn more about our Pharmacy & Healthcare Finance offering or contact Southshore Finance today to discuss your options.
Frequently asked questions
What are the pharmacy ownership rules in WA?
Under the Pharmacy Act 2010 (WA), a pharmacy business can only be owned by a registered pharmacist or a qualifying entity such as a pharmacist controlled company, and one pharmacist can hold a proprietary interest in no more than four pharmacies at a time. These pharmacy ownership rules in WA are checked by the Pharmacy Registration Board of WA before a change of ownership is approved.
What does pharmacy due diligence actually involve?
Pharmacy due diligence covers three separate reviews: financial due diligence to confirm the earnings figure behind the price, legal due diligence on the sale contract and its conditions, and a review of the lease, which can affect the deal more than either of the other two. Each is typically handled by a different professional.
Can anyone own a pharmacy in Australia?
No. Pharmacy ownership across Australia is restricted, generally to registered pharmacists and specific permitted entities like pharmacist controlled companies, with the exact rules and caps set by each state and territory’s own legislation. In WA, that’s the Pharmacy Act 2010 and its four-pharmacy ownership cap.
What’s different about buying a business in WA?
Buying a business in WA generally involves the same due diligence, contract and duty considerations as anywhere else in Australia, but a pharmacy purchase in WA adds a legal ownership eligibility test, a premises registration, and a separate federal PBS approval on top of the usual process, each with its own cost and timeline.
How does a pharmacy licence transfer in WA work?
There’s no single “licence transfer,” it’s three separate steps: notifying the Pharmacy Registration Board of WA of the change of ownership, keeping the premises registration current, and applying separately to the Department of Health for approval to supply PBS medicines under the new ownership, confirmed on settlement day itself.
Are pharmacy ownership rules the same across Australia?
No. Pharmacy ownership rules across Australia are set state by state, not nationally. WA’s Pharmacy Act 2010 applies its own four-pharmacy cap and ownership test, and other states set their own limits under similar but not identical legislation, so rules that apply interstate can’t be assumed to apply here.
How to open a pharmacy in Australia
The ownership eligibility test is the same whether you’re opening a new pharmacy or buying an existing one, you still need to qualify as an owner under legislation like WA’s Pharmacy Act 2010. What differs is the paperwork: opening a new pharmacy means registering premises that have never traded before, while buying an existing one means a change of ownership notification and a PBS approval transfer, generally a faster path than starting from nothing.