Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
The Australian Government's medicine subsidy program — explained topic by topic. Official information from PBS.gov.au, the TGA, and the Department of Health.
What is the PBS?
How the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme works, its legislative basis, the role of the PBAC and DoH, and how it keeps medicine costs affordable for Australians.
PBS eligibility and concession cards
Who can access PBS medicines, Medicare card requirements, concession card types (Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, LIHC), and co-payment amounts for 2026.
How to read a PBS listing
Decoding PBS Schedule entries: item codes, benefit types, maximum quantities, repeats, brand substitution indicators, and restriction codes.
Authority prescriptions explained
The three authority types — streamlined, telephone authority, and written authority — when each applies, how prescribers request approval, and patient implications.
PBS Safety Net
How the General and Concessional Safety Net thresholds work, how families register, what co-payments drop to after reaching the threshold, and the registration card process.
Restricted, unrestricted, and authority benefits
The three PBS benefit categories explained: unrestricted (any indication), restricted benefit (clinical criteria), and authority required — with examples of each.
Biosimilars on the PBS
TGA biosimilar approval, PBS automatic substitution policy, the 35% mandatory price reduction, biosubstitution flags, and clinical considerations for switching.
PBS and Close the Gap (CTG)
The Closing the Gap co-payment subsidy for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, how it works at the pharmacy, and how prescribers register patients.
Section 100 highly specialised drugs
What the Section 100 program is, which drugs it covers (HIV antiretrovirals, immunosuppressants, growth hormone), approved suppliers, and the Home Medicines Service (HSD).
How drugs get listed on the PBS
The PBAC submission and HTA process, cost-effectiveness thresholds, the ESC and DUSC roles, ministerial approval, price negotiations with the PBPA, and first-time listing vs re-listing.
About the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is an Australian Government program that subsidises the cost of a wide range of prescription medicines for all Australian residents who hold a Medicare card. Established under the National Health Act 1953, the PBS Australia system currently lists approximately 900 drugs across more than 5,300 individual items in the PBS listings (also known as the PBS Schedule).
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) — an independent expert body — recommends drugs for listing based on clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Once the PBAC recommends a drug, the Minister for Health decides whether to list it, and price negotiations occur with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Pricing Authority (PBPA). For full details on the evaluation process, see our guide on how drugs get listed on the PBS.
Patients pay a co-payment per prescription up to a capped threshold. Once a family reaches the PBS Safety Net threshold in a calendar year, further PBS medicines are free (concession) or heavily reduced (general). Learn more about eligibility, concession cards, and co-payment amounts in our eligibility and concessions guide.
For the official PBS Schedule, medicine searches, and current co-payment rates, visit pbs.gov.au. For regulatory information about medicines approved in Australia, see the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).