In a bid to help increase the number of Indigenous pharmacy students, three students have been granted scholarships as part of the Symbion and Pharmacy Guild Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Pharmacy Student Scholarship Initiative.

The scholarship is a part of the broader Reconciliation Action Plans endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, led by both Symbion, a national wholesaler of healthcare services and products and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

The three scholarships have been awarded to:

Keely Clemments, a first-year student at James Cook University;

Bryony Forrest, enrolled in her second year at RMIT University; and

Tameera Guivarra, a fourth-year student at Queensland University of Technology.

In annoucing the three scholarships, the Guild said that the purpose of the scheme designed to both ease the financial burden of pursuing pharmacy studies by offering $10,000 per annum for up to four years, and to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment within the sector.

Pharmacy chain TerryWhite will also be assisting the three students with mentoship and career support.

Australian President of the Pharmacy Guild, Professor Trent Twomey said that the scholarships "... will have far-reaching and lasting positive impacts," on the Indigenous community.

Chief Executive Officer of Symbion, Brett Barons stated the the scheme "will help to build a strengthened Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pharmacy workforce which will result in an increased provision of, and access to, improved culturally appropriate pharmacy services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients."

Announced in June the scholarships are the first of their kind in Australia will be run annually in a bid to support and ultimately increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists in the community. The Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged estimates that of the nearly 34,000 registered Pharmacists in Australia, only 0.31% or 105 pharmacists identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.