Australian Prescriber: a new chapter

Australian Prescriber is back! The news has been received warmly—as would be expected, considering the swell of support last year when the future of the journal was uncertain following the closure of the previous publisher, NPS MedicineWise.¹

Australian Prescriber is a respected, independent and accessible journal of therapeutics that has supported health professionals in Australia to make informed prescribing decisions for almost 50 years.² That there would be a future for Australian Prescriber was never in doubt considering its reputation and popularity, and that the National Medicines Policy³ continues to advocate for ‘access to up-to-date, reliable and good quality information for the Australian health system’.⁴

The new publisher, Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd, is an independent not-for-profit organisation. It is well respected in Australia for producing Therapeutic Guidelines, a point-of-care clinical decision support database covering over 2500 diagnoses.

Much like Australian Prescriber, Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd has been a stalwart of the healthcare community in Australia for over 45 years. The first edition of the Antibiotic guidelines was published in 1978 by a multidisciplinary team based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The first few editions were free. In 1984, publication of the guidelines was transferred to the Victorian Medical Postgraduate Foundation, now Health Education Australia Ltd (HEAL), which introduced a fee to ensure future viability. New titles began to be added in the late 1980s, each written by an appropriate expert group, and today, Therapeutic Guidelines covers 21 clinical areas. The guidelines moved home one last time when the not-for-profit publisher Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd was incorporated in 1996. The organisation has been successful because it was created by healthcare professionals to support healthcare professionals, a principle that continues to this day.

The opportunity to take on Australian Prescriber was unexpected but welcome, and Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd is delighted to have won the competitive tender. The missions, values, stakeholders and expertise of the two publications align. Australian Prescriber is a natural fit for Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd, with the opportunity to collaborate across publications an added bonus.

The Editorial Executive Committee of Australian Prescriber has reconvened so readers can expect the same high-quality topical and relevant articles every two months, and the popular biweekly podcast series will restart in September. Collaboration with professional colleges and societies to develop an engaging content strategy, and to enable article accreditation for continuing professional development, will be central to ensuring the journal prospers.

Conflicts of interest: Leigh-Anne Claase is Chief Executive Officer of Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd.

This article is peer-reviewed.

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