About the PBS

How it works for you

This section of the website contains information on who is eligible to receive PBS prescriptions and patient co-payment amounts

The PBS covers all Australian residents when they fill a prescription for a PBS medicine. Visitors from countries with which Australia has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement including the United Kingdom (incl. Northern Ireland), Ireland, New Zealand, Malta, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland also have access to the PBS.

From 1 January 2007, if you’re a general patient, you pay up to $30.70 for most medicines listed on the PBS. People with concession cards pay $4.90.

These payments are called patient copayments and are revised annually in line with the Consumer Price Index.