Budget 2021-2022 - Headline items

These included:

• $17.7 billion over four years to fund aged care reforms.
• Fully funding the NDIS with an additional $13.2 billion over four years to 2023-24.
• $2.3 billion for improved and expanded mental health care and suicide prevention.
• $11.5 million to extend the Home Medicines Service and continued dispensing arrangements to support access to medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
• $35.8 million for a temporary community pharmacy program for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which will leverage the national network of world class community pharmacies, to administer both vaccine doses to patients throughout Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the national roll-out.
• No funding for the Guild’s Pre-Budget submission proposals for an Opioid Replacement Therapy program and a one-off Pharmacy ePrescription bulk payment.
• $421.6 million for the Australian Digital Health Agency’s work on My Health Record.
• Payments relating to the PBS are expected to increase by $95.4 million in 2020-21 ($852.5 million over the four years to 2023-24), largely reflecting higher than expected price and volume forecasts for subsidised medicines.
• A raft of welcome (small) business/training support measures and initiatives targeted at women.