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

All Australian residents are eligible to access the PBS 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 2009, if you’re a general patient, you pay up to $32.90 for most medicines listed on the PBS. People with concession cards pay $5.30.

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