How much does a prescription cost in Australia in 2026?

For a PBS-listed medicine the most you pay is $25.00 as a general patient, or $7.70 with a concession card. Some medicines cost less than the co-payment, in which case you pay the lower price. Medicines that are not on the PBS are priced by the pharmacy.

How does the PBS Safety Net work?

Once your spending on PBS medicines in a calendar year reaches the Safety Net threshold, general patients pay the concessional rate for the rest of the year and concession card holders pay nothing for PBS medicines. The current thresholds are published by Services Australia. Delivery charges do not count toward the threshold.

How much is delivery?

It depends on your address and the size of the parcel. Australia Post Standard and Express are both priced at checkout, and a courier option appears where the address falls inside a dispensing pharmacy's courier zone. You see the amount before you pay.

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Pricing

How much does a prescription cost in Australia?

Q: Why is my prescription cheaper than the co-payment?

The co-payment is a maximum, not a fixed price. When a medicine's dispensed price is below the general co-payment, a general patient pays that lower price plus any allowable additional patient charge instead. Current amounts are published by the PBS.

Q: Does an online pharmacy cost more than the counter?

The PBS co-payment is set by the Australian Government and does not change between pharmacies. What differs is delivery: postage is priced for your postcode and parcel rather than charged as one flat fee.

Q: Can the price change after I order?

No. The total is frozen when the order is placed and that is the amount charged, even if the order is moved to a different pharmacy in the network.

Short answer: for a PBS medicine, no more than $25.00 — or $7.70 if you hold a concession card. Those are ceilings set by the Australian Government, and they're the same at every pharmacy in the country, including the ones in our network. The rest of this page is what moves the number, and what delivery adds.

PBS patient co-payment · as at 1 July 2026

General patientNo concession card$25.00

Concession card holderPensioner Concession, Health Care Card, DVA, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card$7.70

The Safety Net

Spend enough on PBS medicines in a calendar year and the price drops for the rest of it: general patients then pay the concessional rate, and concession card holders pay nothing.

The thresholds change, so rather than restate them here — where they'd quietly go stale — the current amounts are on Services Australia. Your pharmacy records what you spend on a Prescription Record Form and issues the card when you reach it.

Delivery charges don't count toward the threshold — only the medicine does.

Co-payment amounts are set by the Australian Government and published by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; the figures above were current as at 1 July 2026 and typically change on 1 January. We charge whatever the PBS rules say at the moment you order, not the number printed on this page.

What changes the number

Six things move the price, and almost none of them are the pharmacy's choice.

The co-payment is a ceiling

Plenty of common medicines are dispensed for less than the general co-payment. When that happens a general patient pays the lower price plus the allowable additional patient charge, not the full co-payment. The PBS publishes the current amounts.

Brand premiums

Where a cheaper equivalent brand exists, choosing the more expensive one adds a brand premium on top of the co-payment. Asking for the equivalent brand removes it.

Special patient contributions

A small number of medicines carry an extra contribution set in the Schedule. It's rare, and it's disclosed on the price we show you.

Quantity and repeats

You pay a co-payment per dispensing, not per year. A 60-day prescription for an eligible medicine means one co-payment where two used to be needed.

Non-PBS medicines

If a medicine isn't listed on the PBS, no co-payment applies and the pharmacy sets the price. We show you that price the same way, before you pay.

Delivery

The only line we control. Priced per address and parcel at Australia Post's Standard or Express rate, or a courier fee where we run a courier zone — rather than one flat fee for everyone.

A worked example

What the screen looks like before you pay.

One PBS medicine, one concession card, one Standard Post parcel to a metro address. Every line is named, and the total at the bottom is the amount that leaves your account.

If it's more than you expected, close the tab — nothing is charged until you press the button yourself.

Your orderBefore you pay

Your medicine — PBS, concession$7.70

Delivery — Australia Post Standard$10.95

Total$18.65

Illustration only. Your price depends on your prescription, your concession status and where it's going. Postage shown is an example rate, not a fixed fee.

What we charge on top

Nothing to get a price. Sending a prescription and seeing what it would cost is free, and you can stop there.

No service or handling fee. The medicine line is the PBS amount. We don't add a booking, platform or dispensing surcharge to it.

Delivery, priced per parcel. Australia Post Standard or Express for your postcode and what's actually in the box, or a courier fee where we run a zone. Shown before payment, on the same screen as the total.

The price is locked when you order. Whatever total you agreed to is what's charged — it can't be revised upward afterwards, even if your order moves to a different pharmacy in the network.

What we can't do

We can't discount a PBS co-payment. Pharmacies may no longer reduce it. Any site advertising a cheaper co-payment is telling you something that isn't allowed.

We can't quote a price without your prescription. The amount depends on the item, quantity, brand and your entitlement — all of which come off the script itself.

We can't post every medicine. Some can't legally travel by post, and some need cold chain. We check that before payment and tell you your options.

Pricing questions

Questions about the money

Why is my prescription cheaper than the co-payment?

Because the co-payment is a maximum. If the dispensed price of your medicine is under it, you pay the lower amount instead.

Does an online pharmacy cost more than the counter?

Not for the medicine — that's a government-set price. The difference is delivery, and whether you're told the number before or after you commit.

Do you take concession and DVA cards?

Yes, where the entitlement is recorded on the prescription itself — the price you're shown already includes it. DVA cards are priced at the concessional rate.

What if I have no Medicare number?

PBS subsidy depends on it, so without one you're quoted the medicine's full price rather than a co-payment. You'll see that figure before paying, same as any other.

How does the Safety Net work with delivery?

Only the medicine counts toward the Safety Net. Postage is a delivery charge and doesn't contribute to the threshold.

When am I charged?

When you press the payment button, and not before. Getting a price costs nothing and creates no obligation.

Can the price change after I order?

No. The total is frozen when you place the order and that's the amount charged. If no pharmacy can fill it at that price, the order doesn't quietly get repriced — we sort it out or cancel it.

See the real number for your script.

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