Better health and ageing for all Australians

Programs & Initiatives

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Growth Hormone Program

This page contains the following downloadable PDF documents:

In this section:

Overview

Growth hormone (GH) is subsidised by the Australian Government through Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) special arrangements made under section 100 of the National Health Act 1953. The supply of GH under section 100 of the Act is set out in the program Guidelines.

The program is administered by the Department of Health and Ageing with the assistance of the Growth Hormone Advisory Committee (GHAC), a panel of experienced paediatric endocrinologists.

PDF printable version of Growth Hormone Advisory Committee Terms of Reference (PDF 29 KB)



Guidelines for the PBS Growth Hormone Program

Guidelines for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Growth Hormone Program (December 2011) (PDF 285 KB)

1st percentile height values - children 0-3 years

1st percentile height values - children ages 2-20 years

Top of page

Applications for growth hormone

Approved application forms available from this website must be used in all instances to submit applications for initial and continuing treatment. Please ensure that all sections of the forms are completed, with all mandatory information provided. The department will not consider an application until all the necessary information is submitted. Incomplete applications will be returned to sender.

Applications for initial treatment

It is in the interest of medical practitioners submitting applications to familiarise themselves with the Guidelines and data checklists prior to submitting an application.

Application for initial supply of growth hormone - September 2010 (PDF 265 KB)

Application for initial supply of growth hormone for treatment of Prader-Willi Syndrome - September 2010 (PDF 132 KB)

Supporting information for initial applications

Ozgrow diagnosis codes (PDF 104 KB)

Data checklists for initial applications

Clinicians are encouraged to refer to application checklists relevant to each eligibility category, to identify the information required with the application. Applications for continuing treatment (6 monthly)Application for continued supply of growth hormone - September 2010 (PDF 135 KB)

Application for continued supply of growth hormone for the treatment of Prader –Willi Syndrome – September 2010 (PDF 225 KB)

Data checklists for continuing treatment

Continuing application data checklist for all categories (excluding Prader – Willi Syndrome) (PDF 33 KB)

Continuing application data checklist for Prader – Willi Syndrome (PDF 38 KB)

Departmental details

The Department’s contact details for all inquiries and applications are as follows:

PBS Growth Hormone Program
Special Access Pharmaceuticals
Access and Systems Branch
Pharmaceutical Benefits Division
Department of Health and Ageing
MDP 953
GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601

Phone: (02) 6289 7274
Fax: (02) 6289 3175
Email: hgh@health.gov.au

Other Links:

The Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group (APEG)

For any enquiries please contact the Human Growth Hormone (hGH) Treatment Program on (02) 6289 7274 or email HGH@health.gov.au Top of page

Help with accessing large documents

When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:

  1. Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
  2. Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
  3. Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file

Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking) may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is opening and/or lead to system problems.

Help with accessing PDF documents

To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.