Speaker FAQs

Pharmacy Connect is an annual national conference hosted by The Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s New South Wales Branch. The event offers attendees pre-conference workshops, a two-day education program, a trade exhibition featuring 70 trade stands, a Welcome Reception and Cocktail Party.

The event is designed to meet the need for an industry conference that allows pharmacists, owners, executives, students, interns, pharmacy assistants, retail managers, and industry representatives to stay abreast of changing regulations and new business opportunities in the second half of the year.

This year’s conference theme is ‘From Inspiration to Action’.

Pharmacy Connect attracts pharmacists, pharmacy owners, pharmacy staff, pharmacy group executives, pharmacy managers, interns, students, pharmacy assistants, retail managers and industry representatives.

Pharmacy Connect 2025 is taking place on 3-5 September at the Hyatt Regency Sydney, 161 Sussex St, Sydney NSW 2000.

To view your presentation day, time and session room, please download a copy of the latest program here.

Presentations in the plenary, clinical and business streams have been allocated 45 minutes. Presentations in the pharmacy assistant stream have been allocated 30 minutes. Please ensure sessions run smoothly and as a courtesy to other speakers, please restrict your presentation to this timeframe.

Yes. Speakers should allow for and factor in five minutes at the end of their presentation for questions. (i.e. 40 minutes presentation plus 5 minutes for questions)

Please note: Sessions which are CPD accredited must include time for questions from the audience.

Yes. A PowerPoint template, which you are encouraged to use for audio visual consistency, has been provided.  If you have not received your template, please contact the Event Manager.

If you do not wish to use the template provided, please create your presentation in widescreen format (16:9).

The following audiovisual equipment will be available in your session room:

• lectern & microphone
• lapel microphone
• laser pointer
• dual projection screens

If you require additional audiovisual equipment, please advise the Event Manager.

Presentations in the plenary, clinical and business streams will be recorded and provided in the online session recordings, which are emailed to delegates and session sponsors post-event. If you do not wish for your session to be recorded, please indicate this on the online Speaker Registration Form which has been emailed to you.

Yes. All speakers are entitled to a complimentary day registration on the day of their presentation (unless otherwise advised by the Event Manager). If you wish to attend the whole conference you may upgrade to a Full Registration for a discounted rate. To register please complete the online Speaker Registration Form by Friday, 18 July.

If accommodation has not been arranged by your session sponsor or The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, you can book accommodation via the Accommodation page of this website.  Special conference accommodation rates have been negotiated with the conference venue.

All presenters are strongly encouraged to apply for CPD accreditation. Sessions with a predominately commercial and promotional focus (e.g. advertorial and product-based sessions) are not eligible for accreditation. If you have any queries regarding this, please contact the Events Manager.

The accreditation of sessions allows pharmacists to gain CPD credits when they attend accredited sessions. Each year, pharmacists must obtain a specified number of credits to maintain registration. Sessions which are CPD accredited generally attract a larger audience.

For a session to be eligible for CPD accreditation certain materials (as outlined below) must be submitted. The session content will be reviewed against the criteria described in the Accreditation Standards for Continuing Professional Development Activities. The Australasian College of Pharmacy (the College) has also developed College CPD accreditation guidelines to support presenters, authors, and other parties seeking CPD accreditation. If further information is required to accredit the session, the Event Manager will contact the presenter.

1. Speaker Registration & Agreement Form – the purpose of this form is to register each speaker for the conference and to allow speakers to grant permission for their presentation to be recorded and made available on the online session recordings, which are available to all full delegates after the event. A personalised link to this form will be sent to you shortly.

2. Completed CPD Accreditation Application Form for each presenter – this form allows speakers to disclose any conflicts of interest and provides a checklist of items required. A personalised link to this form will be sent to you shortly.

3. Final PowerPoint presentation on individualised template – as mentioned above, you have provided with a personalised PowerPoint template for your presentation. If you do not wish to use the template, please create your PowerPoint slides in 16:9 format (widescreen) to fit the screen size.

4. Learning objectives – please supply three (3) learning objectives you want the audience to take away from your presentation. These should be specific, actionable and measurable i.e. after completing this CPD activity, pharmacists should be able to …., but should also be as broad as possible. For more information about the development of learning objectives, refer to the CPD Accreditation Guidelines – 4. Setting learning objectives for the activity

5. Handouts/instructional material (if applicable).

6. Assessment questions (Multiple Choice Questions/MCQs) – presenters must submit 5 questions for a 45-minute presentation.

MCQs answers must:

• Relate to the above learning objectives you want to provide to the audience -For more information, refer to the College CPD accreditation guidelines – 7. Designing assessment for the activity
• Have four (4) plausible answers (A-D) – answers to be provided
• Not include ‘true / false’, ‘all of the above’ and /or ‘don’t know’ answer options
• Be covered in the content of the presentation (i.e. not new or additional to the presentation)
• Be of sufficient difficulty and not answerable unless the participant has attended the session

Overview of documents to be submitted:

*For presenters not applying for CPD accreditation, this is due on 29 August

Session material submitted after 18 July will not be eligible for CPD accreditation.  Please submit to emma.fernance@qldguild.org.au.

What are the guidelines for developing a presentation for accreditation?

• The presentation should state the justification for its purpose e.g. new medicine, product, service, guideline, regulation etc or evidence of gaps in pharmacist knowledge, skills, abilities or service delivery
• Each of the stated learning objectives must be assessed by at least one (1) of the required number of MCQs
• Current and complete references must be included in the presentation, where applicable
• Content should be free of commercial bias and have no promotional content
• Content should be relevant and contemporaneous to the pharmacy industry
• Content should be a critical evaluation of the available literature e.g. limitations of the quoted literature should be declared etc
• When referring to available products, both active ingredient and brand names must be used to achieve a balanced presentation e.g Ibuprofen (Nurofen™, Advil™, Brufen™, Rafen™) is indicated for the management of mild pain. The same applies for the use of pictures/images of a certain product (e.g. Nurofen™) – the pictures/images of the other brands must also be included (e.g. Advil™, Brufen™, Rafen™)
• When referring to a product or service it must be presented in a way which outlines the overall concept rather than an individual product and/or service, e.g. discuss a pharmacy adherence program concept, rather than a specific service such as PDL, GuildCare etc.
• The presentation content must cover information for the assessment questions that will be asked of participants when seeking CPD points
• Content development must have significant input from a pharmacist and/or subject matter expert, to ensure relevance to contemporary pharmacy practice
• The content and method of delivery must promote effective adult learning principles, i.e. adult learners:
  • want learning experiences that are relevant, meet their needs and help them achieve their goals
  • are independent, self-motivated and self-directed
  • apply their diverse life experiences and knowledge to new learning, using problem solving, reflection and reasoning
  • need learning experiences to be practical and related to their lives and work
  • seek learning experiences that could improve their job satisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life, personal growth and development

Yes, we offer all speakers access to pharmacists who can assist with the application process and answer any questions, free of charge.  Please contact the Events Manager for further information.

Making content changes to a presentation once it is accredited is not recommended. Any presentations which are changed post CPD accreditation will need to be reviewed again. If you need to make any changes to your material after submission, please contact the Events Manager to discuss further.

Please arrive at the conference at least 60 minutes prior to your session and advise staff at the Enquiries Desk that you are onsite.

Following your presentation, you are free to leave the session room unless arrangements have been made with your session sponsor to remain at the event.

If you are running late for your session, please call the Pharmacy Connect Event Manager, Emma Fernance, on 0402 427 691. Emma will liaise with the session Chairperson and develop a contingency plan for your presentation time.

If you are not applying for CPD accreditation and make changes to your submitted presentation, please email the updated version to the Events Manager the day before or submit via Dropbox, WeTransfer etc if the file is too large. Due to cyber security reasons, please do not bring your updated presentation on a USB as the event organiser and AV team laptops have been USB disabled.

Each session has a Chairperson who will advise you when you have five (5) minutes left in your session.   Once again, to ensure the sessions run smoothly and as a courtesy to other speakers, please restrict your presentation to the allocated timeframe.

Grand Ballroom 2
Grand Ballroom 2 will be set theatre-style for up to 400 delegates.

Grand Ballroom 1
Grand Ballroom 1 will be set theatre-style for up to 250 delegates.

Yes, parking is available directly opposite the hotel at Wilson Parking. For further details visit https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/australia/hyatt-regency-sydney/sydrs/maps-parking-transportation

For any speaker related questions before, during or after the event, please contact:

Pharmacy Connect Event Manager
Emma Fernance
P. 0402 427 691
E: emma.fernance@qldguild.org.au