Who we are

Australian Prescriber is an independent review of therapeutics which is published every two months. If you are a prescribing health professional you can subscribe to receive a paper copy. All readers can be sent an e-alert.

History
The journal was first published by the Commonwealth Department of Health in 1975. Since then it has been published by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Branch of the Department of Health and Ageing, and since 2002, the National Prescribing Service (NPS).

Australian Prescriber has been online since 1996, so you can search over 600 back issues using the online Search and Index.

Past covers of the journal show Australian Prescriber's evolution over more than 30 years of publishing.

Independence
Australian Prescriber accepts no advertising. This is in accordance with a policy of the International Society of Drug Bulletins of which Australian Prescriber was a founding member. As the journal does not depend on advertising it can comment freely and impartially on controversial issues.

Readership
The paper copy of Australian Prescriber is distributed to Australian prescribing health professionals and to teaching hospitals and students at medical, pharmacy and dental schools. The package includes the NPS News and, until the end of 2009, the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) Bulletin. From February 2010 adverse drug reactions reporting is published within Australian Prescriber as 'Medicines Safety Update'.

Editorial Executive Committee
The Editorial Executive Committee selects topics for publication in Australian Prescriber, commissions specific authors, reviews draft articles and approves them for publication, reviews comments on new drugs that have been prepared by the Editors, selects correspondence for publication, and oversees the general direction of the journal.

The Committee currently consists of the following members: the medical editor, the deputy editor, a psychiatrist, a geriatrician, a general physician, a general practitioner, a clinical pharmacologist and a pharmacist. The Committee is supported by an editorial assistant, a production manager and administration support. It liaises with the National Prescribing Service as a working group, with the Australian Prescriber Advisory Editorial Panel, with other independent Australian medicines information providers and a range of stakeholders engaged in the quality use of medicines in Australia and overseas.

Advisory Editorial Panel
The Advisory Editorial Panel supports the Editorial Executive Committee. Its members represent 46 major Australian specialist colleges and societies, providing a direct link with specialist practice. Panel members contribute comments on and suggestions for articles, and meet with the Editorial Committee from time to time.

Funding
Australian Prescriber is funded from a budget allocated to the National Prescribing Service (NPS), an independent, non-profit organisation providing medicines information and resources for consumers, health professionals, members and stakeholders involved in Quality Use of Medicines. The NPS is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.