In a country where nearly one in three people receiving subsidised medicines was born overseas, Australian research is drawing attention to a quiet but consequential failure: the language gap between pharmacists and their patients too often goes unbridged. Dr Imaina Widagdo's findings reveal that nearly half of PBS recipients with limited English are managing six or more medications simultaneously — a complexity that demands clear communication, yet rarely receives it. Free interpreter services exist and cost pharmacies nothing, yet they remain largely unused, suggesting the barrier is not one
Pharmacists urged to bridge medication safety gap for CALD communities
Medication misuse among CALD communities with limited English proficiency increases risk of adverse health outcomes and treatment complications.
Free interpreter services exist but remain underutilized
Mark
So what exactly did Dr Widagdo's research find? Is this a new problem or something we've known about for a while?
Mimi
The research quantifies something that's been suspected but not well documented. Nearly 30 percent of PBS recipients were born overseas, and among those with limited English proficiency, 45 percent are on six or more medications. That's a lot of people managing complex medication regimens without full language support.
Luke
But I want to be careful here—is that 45 percent figure from the study itself, or is it an estimate? And does "limited English proficiency" have a specific definition in the research?
Mimi
The source presents it as a finding from Dr Widagdo's work, though the exact methodology isn't detailed in what we have. It's presented as a major concern for pharmacists.
Mark
Why would six or more medications be particularly risky?
Mimi
When you're managing that many drugs, the risk of interactions increases, the chance of missing a dose goes up, and confusion about instructions becomes more likely. If a patient doesn't fully understand the language in which those instructions are given, the risk multiplies.
Luke
That's logical, but I'd want to know: is there actual data showing adverse outcomes in this population, or is this a projected risk based on the complexity?
Mimi
The source frames it as a concern that needs addressing, but doesn't cite specific adverse event data. It's more about the structural risk.
Mark
And the interpreter services—they're free but underutilized. Why would pharmacists not use them?
Mimi
That's the puzzle. The tools exist. They cost nothing. But they're not being used consistently. It suggests the issue is workflow, awareness, or how pharmacy practice is currently structured.
Luke
Or it could be time pressure, or pharmacists not knowing the services exist, or not knowing how to access them quickly. The source doesn't explain the "why" behind the underutilization.
Mark
So what needs to happen now?
Mimi
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has made this a research priority, which signals the profession is taking it seriously. But the real work is changing practice—making interpreter services routine, not exceptional.
Der Puls
- Nearly 45% of PBS recipients with limited English are juggling six or more medications at once, creating serious risks of misuse, missed doses, and dangerous drug interactions.
- Free interpreter services funded for pharmacists sit largely untouched, exposing a troubling gap between what the system provides and what practitioners actually use.
- The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has elevated CALD medication safety as a formal research priority, signalling that the profession can no longer look away from the evidence.
- Pharmacists — often the last healthcare professional a patient encounters before taking a drug — are being called to treat interpreter access not as an exception, but as a routine standard of care.
- For hundreds of thousands of overseas-born Australians, the risk is not hypothetical: misunderstood instructions and unrecognised interactions are already translating into preventable harm.
In a country where nearly one in three people receiving subsidised medicines was born overseas, Australian research is drawing attention to a quiet but consequential failure: the language gap between pharmacists and their patients too often goes unbridged. Dr Imaina Widagdo's findings reveal that nearly half of PBS recipients with limited English are managing six or more medications simultaneously — a complexity that demands clear communication, yet rarely receives it. Free interpreter services exist and cost pharmacies nothing, yet they remain largely unused, suggesting the barrier is not one of resources but of habit, awareness, and professional culture. The human cost of this inaction — preventable errors, dangerous interactions, avoidable hospitalisations — falls disproportionately on those least equipped to advocate for themselves.
A researcher at Adelaide University has documented a significant and largely unaddressed gap in how Australian pharmacists communicate with patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Dr Imaina Widagdo's work reveals that nearly three in ten people receiving medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme were born overseas — a proportion large enough to demand a systemic response, yet one that has not prompted meaningful change.
The stakes become clearer when the numbers are examined closely. Among PBS recipients with limited English proficiency, roughly 45 percent are managing six or more different medications simultaneously. Without adequate language support, the risks multiply: misunderstood dosage instructions, unrecognised drug interactions, and hospitalisations that could have been prevented.
What makes the findings particularly pointed is that the tools to address this problem already exist. Free interpreter services are available to pharmacists at no cost to the pharmacy — yet they remain consistently underutilised. The gap between what is available and what is being used points not to a shortage of resources, but to failures of awareness, workflow, and professional habit.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has now made medication safety in CALD communities a key research focus. But recognition alone is not enough. What the research demands is a shift in practice — one where interpreter services become a standard part of care rather than an occasional accommodation, and where pharmacists understand that a patient's nod of agreement is not always a sign of genuine understanding.
For the hundreds of thousands of overseas-born Australians navigating complex medication regimens, the question is no longer whether the problem is real. It is whether the profession will act before more preventable harm occurs.
A researcher at Adelaide University has documented a troubling gap in how Australian pharmacists communicate with patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds—one that leaves hundreds of thousands of people at risk of medication errors. Dr Imaina Widagdo's work reveals that nearly three in ten people receiving medicines through Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme were born overseas, a proportion large enough to reshape how the country's pharmacy system operates, yet one that has largely gone unaddressed.
The problem compounds when you look at the numbers more closely. Among PBS recipients who speak English as a second language or have limited English proficiency, roughly 45 percent are managing six or more different medications at the same time. That is not a minor inconvenience—it is a recipe for confusion. When a patient does not fully grasp the instructions on a medication bottle, or misunderstands how to take multiple drugs together, the consequences can be serious: missed doses, dangerous interactions, hospitalizations that might have been prevented.
Dr Widagdo's research, conducted under the auspices of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, has placed medication safety in CALD communities squarely in the spotlight. The findings matter because they expose a systemic failure: pharmacists, who are often the last healthcare professional a patient sees before taking a medication, are not consistently bridging the language gap that separates them from their patients. This is not a matter of goodwill or effort. It is a matter of tools and systems.
Australia already has the infrastructure to solve much of this problem. Free interpreter services are available to pharmacists—they exist, they are funded, and they cost the pharmacy nothing. Yet they remain underutilized. Pharmacists are not routinely calling on these services to ensure that patients with limited English proficiency actually understand what they are being told about their medications. The gap between what is available and what is being used suggests that the issue is not primarily one of resources, but of awareness, workflow integration, and perhaps cultural practice within the profession itself.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has now made medication safety in CALD communities a key research focus, signaling that the profession recognizes the problem. But recognition is only the first step. What comes next requires pharmacists to change how they work—to see the use of interpreter services not as an occasional accommodation but as a standard part of care for patients who need it. It requires pharmacy managers to build these services into their daily operations. It requires the profession to acknowledge that a patient who nods and says "yes, I understand" may not actually understand at all, particularly when complex medication regimens are involved.
For the hundreds of thousands of overseas-born Australians taking multiple medications, the question is no longer whether the problem exists. It is whether the profession will act on what the research has now made clear.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Pharmacists need to ensure that patients fully understand the information provided regarding their medications— Dr Imaina Widagdo, Adelaide University
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