Partnership Program

Many newsletter readers will know about Australian Prescriber. Many might also read Australian Prescriber online – after all, it was one of the first journals to make its entire content freely accessible on the web many years ago. However, most readers will probably not know that, with the demise of NPS MedicineWise, the publication of Australian Prescriber has now been taken over by Therapeutic Guidelines under a contract with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

For those who are less familiar with Australian Prescriber, it is an independent peer-reviewed journal of drugs and therapeutics. Further details about the history of Australian Prescriber and its publication process are provided on the website, and readers interested in the complexities of writing and publishing independent, unbiased, and transparent information and advice about drugs and therapeutics are encouraged to visit the website.

More information on the history of Australian Prescriber has also been published (refs 1,2). However it is worth noting that the life of Australian Prescriber has not always been smooth sailing – to put it mildly. Not surprisingly, there was initial resistance to its publication from the pharmaceutical industry who wanted to control the narrative about new drugs they were bringing to market. Industry concerns were also supported by many influential doctors who argued it was not the role of government to educate the medical profession about how to treat their patients. This opposition led to the publication of Australian Prescriber being suspended for some time in the 1980s, but publication soon recommenced when the government was persuaded by the strength of the evidence that poor prescribing by doctors had major financial implications to the health budget.

Australian Prescriber has also had four “homes” during its life. It was initially published by the Department of Health, and then by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. However neither were natural “homes” for such a publication, and since one of the main arguments for the need for such a publication was that by promoting better, and particularly less wasteful, prescribing it could help to mitigate the rising costs to government of pharmaceuticals, its next home was back with the Department of Health, but within its Pharmaceutical Benefits Branch. This continued until the establishment of the National Prescribing Service (later renamed NPS MedicineWise), which was a natural “home” for Australian Prescriber since its prime purpose was to promote the quality use of medicines. However, this came to an end when its funding was ceased and continuing projects transferred to other organisations. As part of that process, Therapeutic Guidelines was the successful tenderer for taking over the publication and is now the fifth “home” of Australian Prescriber.

The articles in Australian Prescriber are commissioned for an Australian readership so are not always relevant for practitioners from other countries. However, the articles are written specifically to assist and inform practitioners about therapeutic problems, including the strengths and weaknesses of diagnostic tests in guiding prescribing and the difficulties of prescribing in situations of diagnostic uncertainty. So, most articles are still relevant for practitioners in countries other than Australia.

Australian Prescriber is published 6 times per year, and each edition has at least five articles. Anyone can access the articles and podcasts online for free and there is an option to subscribe to receive updates on new issues. There is no advertising or sending of unwanted promotional materials. We therefore encourage Therapeutic Guidelines subscribers to register and judge for themselves the usefulness of this resource

1. Dowden J. Australian Prescriber: the first thirty years. Aust Prescr 2005;28:120–

2. Dowden J. Forty and forward? Aust Prescr 2015;38:146-7.