Source data: 
Mental health-related prescriptions 2018–19 tables (93KB XLSX)
Antidepressants and Antipsychotics had the highest average number of subsidised and under co-payment prescriptions per patient (8.7 and 8.6, respectively) in 2018–19. Psychostimulants, agents used for ADHD and nootropics had the least number of prescriptions dispensed, but had the third highest rate of prescriptions per patient (7.2). A similar pattern was observed for subsidised prescriptions.
Females had a higher rate of subsidised and under co-payment mental health-related prescriptions (1,847.1 per 1,000 population) than males (1,223.2) in 2018–19. Of the age groups, the lowest prescription rate was for those aged 0–4 years (4.0 per 1,000 population), with the rate increasing by age group to 4,307.9 for those aged 85 years and over. For remoteness areas, while the majority of mental health-related prescriptions were for people living in Major cities (67.2%), people living in Inner regional areas had the highest prescription rate (1,977.1 per 1,000 population), followed by people living in Outer regional areas (1,687.5). The variation in prescription rates among demographic groups was broadly consistent with the number of people receiving mental health-related prescriptions (see Figure PBS.2).
Over time
For the period 2014–15 to 2018–19, the rate (per 1,000 population) of subsidised and under co-payment mental health-related prescriptions increased from 1,456.3 to 1,548.2, an average annual increase of 1.5%. In contrast, the rate of PBS and RPBS subsidised prescriptions decreased over the same period from 1,018.8 to 971.5 per 1,000 population, an average annual decrease of 1.2% (Figure PBS.6).
Information on the Government spend on subsidised PBS and RPBS scripts is available in the Expenditure on mental health-related services section.