New Prescription charges

From 1 July 2024, the government prescription co-payment is back.

People will have to pay the standard $5 prescription charge, with exemptions for people:

• aged 13 years or under
• holding a Community Services Card (CSC) holder, or a dependent child of a CSC holder
• aged 65 years or over
• holding a Prescription Subsidy Card (PSC).

This applies to every medicine on new prescriptions, but will not apply to repeat supplies on the same prescription. 

Prescriptions from specialists and non-publicly funded prescribers will still attract a:

• $15 co-payment for adults 18 years and older
• $10 co-payment for people aged 14 to 17 years old. 

This is reduced to $5 with a High Use Health Card, or an oral contraceptive prescribed by a private specialist. It will be free if a person holds a Community Services Card.

All prescriptions with either a $15, $10 or $5 co-payment will count towards the 20 prescription items a patient or family collect in a year. Once a person or family reach 20 paid prescription co-payments in a year, they can get a Prescription Subsidy Card. This means they will not have to pay any more prescription charges until the next 1 February. 

Pharmacies may charge for extra services such as medicines delivery or packaging. There may be an additional cost if a prescribed medicine is not fully subsidised. Fees for medicines that are not fully funded by Pharmac remain the same.

We are no longer able to send text messages to confirm that your prescription has been sent to the pharmacy. Repeat Prescriptions will be available to collect from your allocated pharmacy 2 working days after your request.

For more information talk to your general practice or pharmacist.