Medicines in the health system is an Australia's health topic

Medicines can contribute to the quality of life of Australians by curing or relieving the symptoms of illness. They can also prevent complications in existing health conditions or delay the onset of disease.

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care implements Australia’s National Medicines Policy in partnership with state and territory governments, medicines industry, healthcare professionals and consumers. The objectives of the policy are:

  • timely access to the medicines that Australians need, at a cost that individuals and the community can afford
  • medicines meeting appropriate standards of quality, safety and efficacy
  • quality use of medicines
  • maintaining a responsible and viable medicines industry.

How are medicines regulated?

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) plays a key role in the implementation of the National Medicines Policy by maintaining the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). Therapeutic goods must be entered in the ARTG before they can be lawfully supplied in, imported into, or exported from Australia, unless exempt. Medicines, including prescription, over-the-counter (OTC) and complementary medicines, are defined as therapeutic goods and hence must be included in the ARTG.

What is the PBS and the RPBS? 

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) are Australian Government health programs that subsidise the cost of a wide range of medicines in Australia. The PBS is available to current Medicare card holders as well as to overseas visitors from countries with Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with Australia, while the RPBS is only available for Department of Veterans’ Affairs Health card holders. 

The PBS began in 1948 and has expanded over time. As at 30 June 2023, 928 different medicines in 5,261 brands used to treat a wide range of health conditions, were listed on the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023a). The RPBS subsidises pharmaceuticals available under the PBS and additional medicines and items (for example, wound dressings) for eligible veterans, war widows and widowers, and their dependants.

What is the ‘safety net’?

Once a patient (or patient’s family) reaches a particular spending amount on PBS medicines in a given calendar year, the patient can access cheaper medicines for the remainder of that year. This amount is called the PBS Safety Net threshold. 

  • For general patients in 2023, the safety net threshold was $1,563.50. Medicines cost up to $30.00 until the threshold is reached. After this point, the medicine costs up to $7.30 (the concessional co-payment).
  • For concessional patients in 2023, the safety net threshold was $262.80. Medicines cost up to $7.30 until the threshold is reached. After this point, the medicine is free.

For more information on the current and historical safety nets, see the PBS.

What is the ‘co-payment’? 

Under the PBS and the RPBS, the Australian Government sets a maximum ‘co-payment’ amount that people pay towards the cost of their medicines. The Australian Government pays pharmacies the difference between a consumer’s co-payment and the PBS price of a medicine, as listed on the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits. Some prescriptions are priced below the co-payment threshold for a patient, so the consumer pays the total cost, and the government does not contribute. 

Prescriptions priced above the maximum co-payment for a patient are referred to as ‘above co-payment’ prescriptions and attract a subsidy from the Australian Government. Those priced below are referred to as ‘under co-payment’ prescriptions, and do not receive a subsidy.

The maximum co-payment a patient pays depends on their level of entitlement, which is determined by the patient’s concessional status and whether they have qualified for the PBS safety net. At 1 January 2023, the general patient co-payment was reduced from $42.50 to $30.00 while the co-payment for concessional patients increased from $6.80 to $7.30. For example:

  •  Assuming the total cost of a prescription is $100.00 (and 2023 amounts):
    • a general patient pays a co-payment of $30.00 and the cost to the government for the prescription is $70.00.
    • a concessional patient pays a co-payment of $7.30 and the cost to the government for the prescription is $92.70.
  • Assuming the total cost of a prescription is $15.00:
    • The cost of the prescription is below the maximum general co-payment and the general patient pays $15.00. In this instance, the cost to the government for the prescription is $0.00. 
    • A concessional patient only pays the concessional co-payment amount of $7.30, and the Government covers the rest of the cost.

Note that these examples assume the patient has not reached their respective Safety Net thresholds for the calendar year and do not include any special patient contributions (for example, brand price premiums) or optional fees imposed at the discretion of the dispensing pharmacy (all payable by the patient).

For more information on the current and historical co-payments, see the PBS.

Medicines in Australia can be obtained in a number of ways including: 

  • via a prescription provided by a general practitioner (GP), medical specialist or other health practitioner
  • to patients in hospital outpatient departments 
  • purchased over the counter from community pharmacies or other outlets (such as supermarkets). 

Presently a complete data source for all medicines dispensed (including over-the-counter) in Australia is not available. The information presented on this page focuses on medicines supplied under the PBS and RPBS. The data used on this page were extracted by the AIHW from the PBS subsidised prescriptions data in the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care’s Enterprise Data Warehouse on 12 January 2024. The data presented relate to prescriptions dispensed between July 2017 to June 2023. Information on expenditure for private prescriptions is also included. 

Medicines must meet the criteria for PBS listing (for example, safety, clinical and cost effectiveness) and most of the listed medicines are dispensed by pharmacists and used by patients at home. Some medicines, because of their clinical use or other special features, need medical supervision (such as chemotherapy medicines) and are only accessible at specialised medical services, usually hospitals. 

Typically, PBS and RPBS listed medicines are dispensed through community pharmacies, but are also available through private hospitals, public hospitals and approved medical practitioners participating in Pharmaceutical Reform Arrangements (enabling the supply of PBS medicines to patients on discharge from hospital, and non-admitted or day-admitted patients in all jurisdictions except New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory), or through other arrangements such as the Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services. 

The PBS and RPBS data collection does not contain information on private prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, off-label prescribing information or on medicines supplied to public hospital in-patients (with some exceptions, see above paragraph).

Spending on prescription medicines

In 2022–23, the total spending (government costs plus patient contributions) on all PBS and RPBS medicines by both the Australian Government and consumers was $20.4 billion. This spending was for 335.8 million prescriptions that were dispensed under the PBS and RPBS – an increase of 3.9% compared with 2021–22.

Consumers paid a total of $3.4 billion towards PBS and RPBS prescriptions (for both above and under co-payment prescriptions), which was 17% of the total expenditure on PBS and RPBS medicines in 2022–23. This was an increase of 1.0% in consumer spending compared with 2021–22. The Australian Government contributed the remaining 83% ($17.0 billion) of total expenditure in 2022–23.

The Australian Government recorded $17.0 billion in spending on all PBS and RPBS medicines (PBS accounted for 98%) or $655 per person in 2022–23. This was an increase of 15.4% in spending compared with 2021–22. After adjusting for inflation, Australian Government spending increased 4.3% between 2021–22 and 2022–23, which was higher than the average of the annual growth rates between 2017–18 and 2022–23 of 3.3%. This increase in expenditure (compared to changes in previous years) may be due to a variety of factors, including the reduction of the general co-payment amount from $42.50 to $30.00 at the start of 2023 (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, 2023a), a lowering of the Safety Net threshold from 1 July 2022 (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, 2022) and more expensive medicines becoming available on the PBS (including COVID-19 antivirals).

For all prescriptions dispensed in 2022–23, 68.5% (230.2 million) were above the co-payment threshold, indicating the patient paid the relevant co-payment and the remaining cost was subsidised by the Australian Government (Figure 1). The remaining 31.5% (105.6 million) of medications were under the co-payment threshold meaning the patient paid the full cost of the medicine with no government subsidy attracted.

Figure 1: PBS and RPBS prescriptions and benefits, 2017–18 to 2022–23 

This graph displays the total PBS and RPBS prescriptions, as well as government expenditure in current and constant prices for the financial years 2017–18 to 2022–23. It provides the ability to view measures by volume and age-standardised rate for the population. In 2022–23 there were a total of 335.8 million prescriptions supplied to patients.

Types of prescribed medicines dispensed

In 2022–23, medicines used to treat cardiovascular conditions were the most commonly dispensed. These medicines accounted for 110.6 million PBS and RPBS prescriptions (33% of all PBS and RPBS prescriptions in 2022–23), and 7.4% of government expenditure (Figure 2). Cardiovascular medicines, including antihypertensives and cholesterol-lowering medicines (including statins; as high cholesterol is considered as a major risk factor), are often prescribed for cardiovascular disease. For more information see Biomedical risk factors.

How are medicines grouped?

Medicines are organised into Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification groups according to the body system or organ on which they act. For further information on the ATC classification system, see World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology. 

Also dispensed in high volumes were nervous system medications (22% of all PBS and RPBS prescriptions), which include analgesics (painkillers), antipsychotics and antidepressants. While antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents accounted for only 1.8% of all prescriptions, they had the highest government expenditure (39% of total government expenditure) in 2022–23. These medicines are commonly used to treat cancer and other conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, dermatological conditions and inflammatory bowel diseases (such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).

Figure 2: Number of prescriptions dispensed by Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (a) (ATC) group, 2020–21 to 2022–23

This chart displays the above co-payment prescriptions, total prescriptions, government expenditure (in current and constant prices) measures for PBS and RPBS prescriptions by ATC group between 2020–21 and 2022–23. The measures can be viewed by volume and age-standardised rate for the population. Cardiovascular system medicines had the highest volume of prescriptions in 2022–23, with a total of 110.6 million prescriptions (with $1.3 billion of Government expenditure). Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents had the most Government expenditure in 2022–3 at approximately $6.7 billion. Antiparasitic products, insecticides and repellents had both the lowest volume of prescriptions (around 90,000) and expenditure ($3.7 million) in 2022–23.

Top 10 prescribed medicines by volume and expenditure

Medicines used to treat cardiovascular conditions account for the highest volume of PBS and RPBS prescriptions compared with other ATC groups between 2017–18 and 2022–23. Consistent with this, the medicines with the most prescriptions over this same period were the cholesterol-lowering medicines rosuvastatin and atorvastatin. After these medicines, pantoprazole and esomeprazole (medicines used to treat gastro-oesophageal reflux and ulcers) had the highest number of prescriptions; these fall under the alimentary tract and metabolism ATC group (Figure 3). 

Molnupiravir was the medicine with the highest government expenditure in 2022–23, with the fixed dose combination of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor & ivacaftor having the second highest government expenditure. In 2020–21, aflibercept was the medicine with the highest government expenditure. However in 2022–23, this medicine has the third highest government expenditure. 

New medicines are regularly approved for listing on the PBS. Since 2020–21, recent newly available medicines included:

  • two oral COVID-19 antivirals 
    • molnupiravir (Lagevrio®) 
    • the composite product of nirmatrelvir & ritonavir (Paxlovid®) 
  • the fixed-dose combination of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor & ivacaftor (Trikafta®) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis
  • and dupilumab (Dupixent®) used to treat severe atopic dermatitis (eczema). 

These additional medicines may have contributed to an increase in government expenditure ($17 billion in spending on PBS/RPBS medicines in 2022–23 compared with $14.8 billion in 2021–22, Figure 1) and have resulted in a change in the structure of the top 10 medicines by government expenditure since 2017–18. Biologic medicines now account for 6 out of 10 of the most expensive medicines on the PBS in 2022–23 (Figure 3).

What are biologic medicines?

Biologic medicines contain substances that are made by living cells or organisms. They are different from medicines made via chemical process. Chemical medicines are usually available as pills or tablets. Biologic medicines are often administered by an injection at home or an infusion in a hospital or clinic. 

Biologic medicines are used to treat diseases such as:

  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
  • cancer
  • diabetes
  • multiple sclerosis
  • severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
  • severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

Figure 3: Top ten medicines, by selected measures, 2017–18 to 2022–23

This graph displays the top ten PBS and RPBS medicines for the financial years between 2017–18 and 2022–23. Top ten medicines can be selected for the total prescriptions, above co-payment prescriptions, and government expenditure in constant and current prices. Rosuvastatin had the highest volume of prescriptions (16.7 million) in 2022–23, closely followed by Atorvastatin (12.3 million). Both medicines are used to lower cholesterol. After these medicines, Pantoprazole and Esomeprazole had the highest number of prescriptions with 10.4 million and 8.4 million respectively. These medicines are used to treat gastric reflux and ulcers.

Medicines made available under special arrangements

In addition to medicines available under normal PBS arrangements, a number of medicines are also available as PBS pharmaceutical benefits under alternative arrangements provided for under section 100 (s100) of the National Health Act 1953. These s100 medicines can be more conveniently or efficiently supplied under these arrangements. For example, some medicines may require special storage or dispensing, specialist monitoring during treatment, or administration in a hospital outpatient setting. Some of these medicines are listed for the treatment of complex conditions (chronic conditions and cancer) where they are supplied mostly through hospitals and administered under specialised medical supervision.

Section 100 programs include the followings:

  • Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD)
  • Efficient Funding of Chemotherapy (EFC)
  • Botulinum Toxin
  • Growth Hormone
  • In Vitro Fertilisation
  • Opiate Dependence Treatment
  • Closing the Gap – PBS Co-payment
  • Take Home Naloxone
  • Paraplegic and Quadriplegic
  • Medication Program for Homeless People
  • Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services.

The 2 largest of these programs are HSD and EFC. In 2022–23, the HSD and EFC programs accounted for 49% and 40% respectively of government expenditure for s100 programs (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023a).

While government spending on all medicines available through normal PBS arrangements has remained relatively stable, spending on s100 programs has been increasing predominately due to the listing of new medicines and new indications (new use of existing medicines for different conditions) on the PBS. After adjusting for inflation, spending grew by 32% between 2017–18 and 2022–23, which equates to an average annual increase of 5.9%. In contrast, spending on medicines through normal PBS arrangements increased by 2.4% in total over the same period. 

Who can prescribe medicines?

Medicines are primarily prescribed by medical practitioners (GPs and referred medical specialists), however certain other types of health practitioners (dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners and midwives) can also prescribe selected medicines.

In 2022–23, GPs prescribed the majority of PBS and RPBS medicines – around 88% of all prescriptions dispensed. Table 1 shows the most commonly dispensed medicines by authorised PBS prescriber groups.

Table 1: Most common medicines by prescriptions dispensed, by selected PBS prescriber groups, 2022–23

PBS prescriber groups

Most common medicines

Used to treat

GPs (88% of all prescriptions dispensed in 2022-23)

Rosuvastatin, Atorvastatin;

Pantoprazole, Esomeprazole

High cholesterol;

Gastro-oesophageal reflux and ulcers

Referred medical specialists (11%)

Methylphenidate;

Rosuvastatin

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder;

High cholesterol

Dentists (<1%)

Amoxicillin

Bacterial infections

Optometrists (<1%)

Latanoprost;

Hyaluronate sodium

Glaucoma and other eye diseases;

Dry eye syndrome

Nurse practitioners (<1%)

Esomeprazole, Pantoprazole;

Rosuvastatin, Atorvastatin

Gastro-oesophageal reflux and ulcers;

High cholesterol

Endorsed midwives (<1%)

Metoclopramide

Nausea

Note: Some medicines may be used to treat a variety of conditions (indications) and this article refers to just some of the common conditions treatable by these medicines.

Source: Therapeutic Goods Administration, Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) and Product Information (PI) documents for selected medicines.

Who received these medicines?

In 2022–23, PBS prescriptions were dispensed to 17.8 million individual Australians (67% of the population). Population dispensing rates increased with age – young people aged 0–14 had the lowest rates of dispensed prescriptions (184 prescriptions per 100 people aged 0–14), and the highest rates were among those aged 85 and over (6,031 prescriptions per 100 people aged 85 and over). Similar patterns were seen for both males and females (Figure 4).

Over half of PBS and RPBS medicines were dispensed to people aged 65 and over (58%) in 2022–23. Within this age group, people aged 65–74 had the highest number of dispensed prescriptions and accounted for the highest Australian Government expenditure.

When adjusting for the difference in population age structure, the overall rate of dispensed prescriptions remained stable (a 0.4% change downwards from 1,097 to 1,093 prescriptions per 100 people) between 2017–18 and 2022–23 (Figure 1). This was similar for above co-payment prescriptions, where age-standardised dispensing rates per 100 people remained stable (a change downwards of 5% from 755 to 718 per 100 people). The age-standardised rate of the number of people dispensed one or more prescriptions over the same period also remained stable – a slight decrease of 1.4% (from a rate of 69% to 68%). When looking at above co-payment prescriptions only, the age-standardised rate of patients increased slightly by 2.7% (from a rate of 37% to 38%).

Between 2017–18 and 2022–23, there was an increase in prescription rates in younger age groups. This change was most apparent in the 15–24 age group, where the prescribing rate increased by 9.7%. PBS utilisation showed an increase of 1.3 million prescriptions in the 15–24 group. The driver of the observed increase might be related in part to the utilisation of medicines for the nervous system (this class of medicines includes medicines used to treat mental health conditions, anaesthetics and analgesics (including opioids)). In 2022–23 among the 15–24 group, 3.3 million prescriptions were for nervous system medicines, and this represented the most common medicine dispensed (40.5%) for this age group. This is a change from 2017–18, where the most common medicines dispensed among the 15–24 group (31.4%) were for antiinfectives for systemic use (including antibiotics).

Figure 4: Total prescriptions and government expenditure, by age and sex, 2022–23

This chart displays the above co-payment prescriptions, total prescriptions, government expenditure measures for PBS and RPBS prescriptions for 2022–23 by age group for females (on the left axis) and males (on the right axis). Patients with unknown demographics are excluded from this visualisation. The measures can be viewed by volume and age-specific rate for the population. In total there were 182.6 million prescriptions supplied to patients aged 65 or over in 2022–23, accounting for $9.0 billion of Government expenditure.

Impact of recently available higher cost medicines

New medicines are regularly approved for listing on the PBS and in 2022–23, some of these newly available medicines included medicines whose individual costs to government were comparatively high. The average total price for a PBS subsidised prescription in 2022–23 was $81.93 (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023a). The individual costs of the following 5 medicines were above this average total price and the impact of adding these medicines to the PBS combined with high utilisation (in some cases) may have contributed to an increase in government expenditure in 2022–23 (Figure 3):

  • onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma®) and nusinersen (Spinraza®) used to treat spinal muscular atrophy
  • two COVID-19 antivirals (Lagerivo® and Paxlovid®)
  • a fixed-dose combination of Trikafta®
  • and dupilumab (Dupixent®) used to treat severe atopic dermatitis (eczema).

Onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma®) and nusinersen (Spinraza®)

In 2021, the TGA approved the use of Zolgensma® for babies under 9 months to stop the progression of spinal muscular atrophy as a one-off authority required treatment (TGA 2021b). A recent government announcement in October 2023 expanded the eligibility criteria for prescribing Zolgensma® to treat more babies with genetically diagnosed spinal muscular atrophy who are yet to show any symptoms (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023b).
 
Spinraza® is prescribed to patients diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (Department of Health and Aged Care 2022a, 2022b). Spinraza® was listed on the PBS Schedule in June 2018 (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023b) and typically costs the Australian Government $110,000 per vial (based on the Dispensed Price for Maximum Quantity, DPMQ) (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023c).

While Zolgensma® is an expensive medicine (approximately $2.5 million per one-off treatment) (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023d), there were only 13 occurrences of Zolgensma® being prescribed on the PBS in 2022–23. There were 598 occurrences of Spinraza® being prescribed on the PBS in 2022–23.

Molnupiravir (Lagevrio®) and nirmatrelvir & ritonavir (Paxlovid®)

The 2 COVID-19 antivirals were approved by the TGA and listed on the PBS Schedule in early 2022 (TGA 2022a, TGA 2022b). Oral COVID-19 antivirals can be prescribed to select patients who have mild to moderate COVID-19 and who can start treatment within 5 days of symptom onset if (RACGP 2022) the patient:

  • is aged 70 years or older
  • is aged 50 years or older with at least two risk other factors for severe disease
  • identifies as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) and are 30 years or older with at least one other risk factor for severe disease
  • is 18 years or older and are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The eligibility criteria for prescribing of these COVID-19 antivirals were expanded in 2022 (July and November) and further in 2023 (January and April) (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023c). Oral COVID-19 antivirals typically cost the Australian Government approximately $1,100 per pack (based on the DPMQ, (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023e, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023f)).

In 2022–23, there were 891,000 prescriptions for COVID-19 antivirals combined, and a total government expenditure of $1.0 billion (Figure 3). This consisted of 595,000 prescriptions for Lagevrio® and an associated government expenditure of $661.2 million. Paxlovid® prescriptions numbered 296,000 and the government expenditure was $339.5 million (Figure 3). Out-of-pocket PBS expenses for consumers for these 2 COVID-19 antivirals over the period 2022–23 was $1.3 million (AIHW 2023a).

Prescription volumes and government expenditure for COVID-19 antivirals (Figure 5) showed cyclic peaks in July 2022, December 2022 and May 2023. These peaks coincided with Omicron waves of COVID-19 and the winter influenza season (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023d; 2023e). Volume and expenditure peaks also aligned with Australian Government announcements of increased eligibility criteria for prescribing of COVID-19 antivirals. Periods of increased case numbers of COVID-19 may have caused increased costs to the PBS, due to the associated rise in demand for COVID-19 antivirals during these periods.

Figure 5: Total prescriptions and government expenditure for COVID-19 antivirals, by month, 2022 to 2023

This chart provides an overview of total prescriptions dispensed and government expenditure (in current prices) for PBS and RPBS COVID-19 antivirals by month, from introduction to the PBS/RPBS in early 2022. These medicines have had an impact on the increase in government expenditure in 2022-23. Volumes and expenditure show cyclic patterns in July 2022 and January & July 2023.

Elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor & ivacaftor (Trikafta®) and dupilumab (Dupixent®)

The fixed-dose combination Trikafta® was approved by the TGA in March 2021 (TGA 2021a) and listed on the PBS Schedule in April 2022 for patients aged 12 years and older (Department of Health and Aged Care 2022c). The eligibility criteria were expanded to include children aged 6–11 years in May 2023 (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023f). Trikafta® is prescribed for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in patients who have at least one F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (TGA 2021b). Trikafta® typically costs the Australian Government approximately $21,000 per pack (based on DPMQ, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023g). 
 
Dupixent® can be prescribed for patients 12 years and older with severe atopic dermatitis (eczema) and was listed on the PBS Schedule in March 2021 (Department of Health and Aged Care 2021). Dupixent® typically costs the Australian Government approximately $1,600 to $1,700 per pack (based on DPMQ, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2023h).

In 2022–23, there were 24,000 prescriptions for Trikafta® and the government expenditure was $513.2 million (Figure 3). Prescription volumes for Trikafta® rose steadily in the first five months from listing on the PBS and plateaued to approximately 1,700–2,500 prescriptions per month from August 2022 (Figure 6). Government expenditure has shown a similar pattern and stabilised at approximately $40–$60 million. 

In 2022–23, there were 130,000 prescriptions for Dupixent® and the government expenditure was $224.2 million. Prescription volumes and government expenditure for Dupixent® have been steadily rising since 2021.

Figure 6: Total prescriptions and government expenditure for Trikafta® and Dupixent®, by month

This chart displays prescription volume and government expenditure in current price for the fixed-dose combination elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor (Trikafta®) and dupilumab (Dupixent®), by month. These medicines have had an impact on the increase in government expenditure in 2022-23.

Prescription volume of Trikafta® showed an increase in volumes and expenditure since introduction in March 2022, Volumes and expenditure were steady since August 2022. Prescription volumes and government expenditure for Dupixent® have been steadily rising since 2021.

Non-PBS/RPBS subsidised medicines

Private prescriptions

Medicines that require a prescription but are not eligible for subsidy under the PBS are known as private prescriptions. Some examples of private prescriptions include medicines that are not listed on the PBS; are prescribed for off-label use; and are provided to consumers who are not eligible for PBS.

Private prescriptions expenditure for 2020–21 and 2021–22 was estimated at $964.8 million and $960.1 million (current prices) respectively, representing a decline of 0.5% (AIHW 2023b).

Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines

It is acknowledged that consumers purchase OTC medicines (for example, for pain management, contraceptives, coughs and colds, allergy and vitamin supplements) from various sources, including pharmacies, supermarkets and online. Reporting on OTC and complementary medicines sold has been removed from this page due to accurate capture and reporting on the complete pharmacy market being unavailable. Data on supermarket, health food outlets and on-line (internet) orders of medicines is also unable to be reliably captured. 

Where do I go for more information?

For more information on medicines in the health system, see:

For information on how medicines are regulated, see Therapeutic Goods Administration: how we regulate medicines.