60-Day Prescriptions in Australia 2026: Complete Guide and Eligible Medicines

Updated January 2026 · Over 300 medicines now eligible

Since September 2023, the Australian Government has been rolling out 60-day dispensing for PBS medicines in phases. Instead of getting a 30-day supply and paying one co-payment each month, eligible patients can receive a 60-day supply for a single co-payment. This effectively halves the number of times you need to pay for that medicine each year.

How 60-Day Dispensing Works

When your doctor writes a prescription for an eligible medicine, they can specify a 60-day supply. Your pharmacist then dispenses two months of the medicine at once, and you pay a single co-payment of $25.00 (general) or $7.70 (concessional). Repeats work the same way, so a prescription with five repeats gives you a full 12 months of medication in six visits rather than twelve.

Common Eligible Medicine Categories

60-day dispensing covers a wide range of chronic condition medicines. Common categories include: blood pressure medications (such as amlodipine, ramipril, and irbesartan), cholesterol-lowering statins (atorvastatin, rosuvastatin), type 2 diabetes treatments (metformin, empagliflozin), oral contraceptives, thyroid medications (levothyroxine), antidepressants (sertraline, escitalopram), reflux medications (omeprazole, pantoprazole), and gout prevention (allopurinol). The full list includes over 300 medicines and continues to grow.

You can check whether your specific medicine is eligible using the Internest 60-day checker.

How to Get a 60-Day Prescription

At your next doctor's appointment, ask whether your current medications are eligible for 60-day dispensing. If they are, your doctor can write a new prescription specifying the 60-day quantity. You can also ask your pharmacist when picking up your regular scripts, as they can identify eligible medicines and suggest you discuss it with your doctor.

Impact on the PBS Safety Net

One important consideration is that 60-day scripts mean fewer co-payments per year, which means you accumulate spending toward the PBS Safety Net threshold more slowly. For example, a general patient filling one medicine monthly would spend $300 per year (12 x $25.00) with 30-day scripts, but only $150 per year (6 x $25.00) with 60-day scripts. While the direct savings are clear, patients who previously relied on reaching the Safety Net should calculate whether the trade-off still works in their favour. Use the co-payment calculator to model your specific situation.

What Is 60-Day Dispensing?

Traditionally, most PBS prescriptions in Australia were dispensed as a 30-day supply. If you take a daily medication, that means 12 pharmacy visits and 12 co-payments per year — per medicine. Under the 60-day dispensing policy, eligible medicines can be dispensed as a 60-day (two-month) supply for a single co-payment. Your doctor writes the prescription as usual, and the pharmacist dispenses double the quantity. You still get the same total amount of medicine — just in larger quantities, less frequently.

Policy Rollout Stages

As of early 2026, over 480 PBS medicines are eligible for 60-day dispensing. The government has indicated it may continue to expand the list.

Detailed Eligible Medicine Categories

The eligible list covers many of Australia's most commonly prescribed medicines, including:

• Heart and blood pressure — amlodipine, perindopril, irbesartan, ramipril, candesartan, telmisartan
• Cholesterol — atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin
• Type 2 diabetes — metformin, gliclazide, sitagliptin, empagliflozin
• Thyroid conditions — levothyroxine
• Mental health — sertraline, escitalopram, venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, fluoxetine
• Reflux and stomach acid — pantoprazole, esomeprazole, rabeprazole
• Asthma and COPD — some preventer inhalers (e.g., budesonide/formoterol)
• Contraceptives — various oral contraceptive pills
• Osteoporosis — alendronate
• Epilepsy — sodium valproate, levetiracetam, lamotrigine

Medicines That Are NOT Eligible

Some categories are excluded from 60-day dispensing:

• Controlled substances — opioids, benzodiazepines, and other Schedule 8 medicines
• Medicines requiring regular dose adjustments — e.g., warfarin, where the dose changes based on blood test results
• Short-course treatments — antibiotics, short-term pain relief, and other medicines not taken on an ongoing basis
• Medicines with stability or storage concerns — some that degrade more quickly once dispensed in larger quantities
• Some biological and specialty medicines — particularly those requiring cold-chain storage or special handling

Detailed Savings Breakdown

General Patients ($25.00 per script)

Concessional Patients ($7.70 per script)

Real-World Example

60-Day Dispensing and the PBS Safety Net: The Trade-Off

The PBS Safety Net provides cheaper or free prescriptions once your co-payments reach a threshold in a calendar year ($1,748.20 for general patients, $277.20 for concessional patients in 2026). With 60-day dispensing, you make fewer co-payments per year, so it takes longer to reach the threshold.

For most patients, 60-day dispensing saves more money overall. Even if you do not reach the Safety Net, paying 6 co-payments instead of 12 per medicine is a net saving. For patients on many medications — particularly general patients taking 5+ medicines where some are eligible and some are not — the calculation is more nuanced. If you were previously reaching the Safety Net early in the year, 60-day dispensing could occasionally result in paying slightly more overall.

Step-by-Step: How to Get 60-Day Prescriptions

Step 1: Check Your Medicines

Review which of your current medicines are on the 60-day dispensing list. You can search the PBS website directly, look up your medicines at Internest Medicine, or ask your pharmacist at your next visit.

Step 2: Talk to Your GP

At your next appointment, ask your GP about switching eligible medicines to 60-day dispensing. Your doctor will assess whether it is appropriate based on the stability of your condition, monitoring requirements, and your preference. Your GP writes a new prescription indicating the 60-day quantity — in most cases, this is a simple change during a routine appointment.

Step 3: Fill at Your Pharmacy

Take the prescription to your pharmacy. The pharmacist dispenses a 60-day supply for a single co-payment. Your existing repeats are adjusted accordingly — you get the same total amount of medicine, just in fewer, larger batches.

What If My Doctor Says No?

Your GP may have clinical reasons for keeping you on 30-day dispensing — for instance, if your dose was recently changed, if your condition requires close monitoring, or if they want to see you more frequently. This is a medical decision and your doctor's judgement should be respected. You can revisit the question at a future appointment once your treatment is more stable.

Common Concerns About 60-Day Dispensing

Will I still see my pharmacist regularly?

You will visit the pharmacy less often for these specific medicines, but you can still drop in for health advice anytime — pharmacist consultations do not require a purchase. If you take other non-eligible medicines monthly, you will still have regular pharmacy visits for those.

What about medicine waste?

If your doctor changes your medicine or dose partway through a 60-day supply, you may have leftover medication. Return unused medicines to your pharmacy for safe disposal through the Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) programme. In practice, 60-day dispensing is targeted at stable, ongoing medications where dose changes are infrequent.

Can my pharmacist switch me without a new prescription?

No. Your doctor must write a prescription specifying the 60-day quantity. Pharmacists cannot unilaterally change a 30-day prescription to 60-day. However, your pharmacist can flag eligible medicines and prompt you to discuss it with your GP.

Does this affect my private health insurance extras?

Most private health insurance extras covers for pharmacy are based on non-PBS items (e.g., vitamins, supplements, pharmacy-only medicines). 60-day dispensing applies only to PBS-listed medicines, so it generally has no impact on your extras cover.

A Brief History of 60-Day Dispensing in Australia

The policy was designed to bring Australia in line with international norms — countries like the UK, New Zealand, and Canada already routinely dispense 60- or 90-day supplies of long-term medications.

Start Saving on Your Prescriptions

60-day dispensing is one of the simplest ways to cut your annual medication costs — no change in treatment, no change in medicine, just fewer trips and fewer co-payments. Check which of your medicines are eligible, ask your GP at your next appointment, and save up to $150 per medicine per year.

Frequently Asked Questions

General information only, not medical or financial advice. Prices shown are standard PBS co-payments as published by the Australian Government Department of Health. Actual costs may vary. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist for advice specific to your situation. Data sourced from PBS.gov.au.