Women waiting weeks and months in regional areas to get a doctor's appointment for a prescription for the pill can now head to their local pharmacy.
NSW is the latest state to expand access to contraception beyond the GP's office after Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania enacted similar changes.
Karen Carter has been serving the community in Gunnedah, five hours' drive northwest of Sydney, and knows how important access to health care can be for those who cannot duck out for a doctor's appointment.
Ms Carter, who has almost 35 years' experience, is one of 30 pharmacists who, from Friday, can prescribe and supply the oral contraceptive pill to low-risk women between the ages of 18 and 39.
With coal mines nearby, a lot of the women who come into her pharmacy are shift workers.
