Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA)

The Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA) supports all Australians to access safe, affordable life-saving medicines and services through community pharmacies. Learn who’s involved in this agreement, what it covers and how we assess it.

About the 8CPA

The 8CPA is between the:

The 8CPA commenced on 1 July 2024 and will remain in effect until 30 June 2029.

It outlines the Australian Government’s agreement to reimburse pharmacists for:

  • dispensing subsidised medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
  • community pharmacy medication management programs and services.

The agreement aims to support the central pillars of the National Medicines Policy (2022), which includes:

  • equitable, timely, safe and reliable access to medicines and medicine-related services, at a cost that individuals and the community can afford
  • medicines that meet the required standards of quality, safety, and efficacy
  • quality use of medicines and medicines safety
  • a collaborative, innovative and sustainable medicines industry and research sectors with the capability, capacity, and expertise to respond to current and future health needs.

New measures under the 8CPA

The 8CPA brings about a number of new measures including an additional payment to community pharmacies, a temporary freeze on PBS patient co-payments, and phasing out of the optional $1 discount.

Additional Community Supply Support payment

The 8CPA includes a new Additional Community Supply Support (ACSS) payment. This payment provides a means through which the Commonwealth can provide the necessary level of financial support to community pharmacies for the dispensing of PBS medicines, without increasing the costs of medicines for some patients. Read more about the New payments under the Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement.

PBS Co-payments freeze

Currently, both general and concessional PBS co-payments are indexed on 1 January each year, in line with the Consumer Price Index. In 2024, the co-payments are $31.60 for general patients and $7.70 for concessional patients. 

  • From 1 January 2025, there will be: 
    • a 1-year freeze on indexation for PBS co-payments for general patients
    • a 5-year freeze on indexation for PBS co-payments for concessional patients. 
  • From 1 January 2025, the allowable discount will be phased out while annual increases to the PBS co-payment are frozen. 
  • The discount will decrease by the amount of indexation that would have applied to PBS co-payments until it reaches zero. 

This means the maximum amount individuals pay for their PBS medicines won’t go up with indexation while the freeze on their co-payment is in place. 

$1 Discount phase out

Currently pharmacists can reduce the patient co-payment by applying an ‘allowable discount’, up to an amount of $1 for each supply. 

  • From 1 January 2025, the allowable discount will be phased out while annual increases to the PBS co-payment are frozen. 
  • The discount will decrease by the amount of indexation that would have applied to PBS co-payments until it reaches zero. 

The maximum cost to patients won’t increase. Although patients who were getting the discount may see an effective increase in the price of their medicines from 1 January 2025 as the discount is decreased, they will not be worse off than if PBS co-payments had not been frozen.

Read more about the current patient fees and charges

 Community pharmacy programs administered under the 8CPA

Community pharmacy programs in the 8CPA include:

The 8CPA commits to carry out a Rapid Review of the Community pharmacy programs within the first year of implementation (2024–25).

There will be subsequent development of an evaluation framework for each of the Community Pharmacy Programs. This work will involve consultation with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and other key pharmacy sector stakeholders. 

Pharmacy Programs Administrator Online

The Pharmacy Programs Administrator is responsible for administering, processing and paying claims for community pharmacy programs funded under the 8CPA.

Previous and other agreements

There have been 7 previous community pharmacy agreements. The first was in 1990. See the Trove website for previous agreements.

During the 8CPA, the Government committed to entering into two separate agreements with:

Date last updated:

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