“From 1 January 2026, the cost of a PBS-listed medicine for non-concession card holders will drop from $31.60 to $25 – a saving of $6.60 on every script,” Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Professor Trent Twomey said.
“Every week, more than 400,000 scripts will be reduced to $25. Collectively, over the next four years, the maximum price reduction will put $784.6 million back in patient’s pockets.
“By 1 January 2026, medicines prices will be the lowest in 20 years.”
The Prime Minister announced the second only cut to the PBS co-payment in its 75-year history at last week’s Australian Pharmacy Professional Conference on the Gold Coast. The reduction is also supported by the Liberal-National Opposition.
The Pharmacy Guild was joined in the call for cheaper medicines by representatives including Australian Patients Association, Asthma Australia, Family Planning Alliance Australia, QENDO, Australian Association for Adolescent Health, Wounds Australia, Parents & Citizens Queensland, Foodbank, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and Advanced Pharmacy Australia.
In 2023 the copayment was reduced from $42.50 to $30. If this action had not been taken, Australians would be paying up to $50 per script by 2026.
Professor Twomey said community pharmacists were too often having conversations with their patients about the tough choices they were forced to make, between filling scripts and other essentials such as rent, groceries and petrol.
“This is a significant step towards relieving the financial burden of medicines particularly for those Australians with chronic conditions.”
Australians such as Canberran Jess McGowan, who manages a number of chronic health conditions by taking multiple medications every day.
“This announcement will save me hundreds of dollars per year, and it means I won’t have to stress about my medications – what I can afford, or missing food or rent,” Ms Gowan said.
“My stress levels will go down a lot. I’ll no longer have to ration my medication, which I had to do a few months ago and I ended up in hospital. I work casual so I missed income, and it took months to get my health back on track.”
The Guild also welcomed a $1.8 billion investment in tonight’s Budget to list new medicines on the PBS – including new oral contraceptives and treatments for endometriosis, lymphoma, menopause and treatment resistant major depression.
*Professor Twomey and Ms Gowan spoke to news cameras at Parliament House earlier today.