60-day prescriptions in Australia: what changed and what it costs

A 60-day prescription provides two months of an eligible medicine for one co-payment. It is available for more than 300 medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) used for stable, ongoing conditions, but the prescriber decides whether it is appropriate for the patient and the medicine (60-day prescriptions, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).

For someone who would otherwise receive 30 days at a time, this can mean fewer pharmacy visits and fewer co-payments. This guide explains eligibility, 2026 costs, repeats and the effect on PBS Safety Net spending, and sits alongside the wider system covered in our guide to prescriptions in Australia.

Source: 2026 figures from PBS co-payments, Department of Health and 60-day prescriptions, Department of Health.

How a 60-day prescription works

A 60-day prescription is one prescription that authorises two months' supply of your medicine at each fill, rather than the older one-month quantity. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing describes it as receiving twice the medication on a single prescription so it lasts longer, supplied together rather than as two separate one-month fills. It remains one prescription with its usual repeats, and you pay one co-payment for the two months rather than two.

If your prescriber writes a 60-day script with five repeats, you receive two months each time and can fill it up to six times, which comes to about six pharmacy visits across the year instead of twelve. Our guide to repeat prescriptions explains how repeats work.

How it was introduced in three stages

The eligible list was phased in over twelve months, according to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, arriving in three groups across the year.

Source: 60-day prescriptions, Department of Health.

Which medicines are eligible

Eligibility is set by the medicine, not by your prescriber. Only medicines on the eligible PBS list can be prescribed for 60 days, and the list is built around treatments for stable, long-term conditions where a two-month supply is considered safe.

The list covers medicines for many ongoing conditions, including common treatments for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart conditions, along with other chronic illnesses managed with a steady daily dose. Some medicines were deliberately kept at one-month supply, so a medicine's eligibility is worth confirming rather than assuming. Your GP or pharmacist can check it against the current PBS list.

The 60-day rule applies only to PBS prescriptions. A private prescription is written and priced differently, as our guide to private and PBS prescriptions explains.

When a shorter supply may suit you better

A 60-day supply is not automatic. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says the decision rests on your prescriber's clinical judgement, and there are times when a one-month supply is the safer choice.

Your prescriber may keep you on a one-month supply if your dose has changed recently, if you have a new diagnosis or a recent hospital stay linked to the medicine, if the medicine is for a short course rather than ongoing treatment, or if there is a reason a smaller quantity at home is safer for you. In some cases you might start on one-month fills while your dose is settled, then move to 60 days once it is stable. This is a conversation to have with your GP, not something you arrange at the pharmacy.

What a 60-day script costs in 2026

For most people the price of each fill does not change. You pay the standard PBS co-payment whether you collect one month or two. From 1st January 2026 the general co-payment is $25, down from $31.60, and the concession co-payment is $7.70, according to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The saving comes from paying that co-payment half as often.

Take a general patient on one eligible medicine at the 2026 co-payment of $25 a fill. Twelve one-month fills come to $300 across the year, while six two-month fills come to $150, a yearly saving of $150. A concession patient paying $7.70 a fill saves in the same way: twelve one-month fills cost $92.40 across the year, while six two-month fills cost $46.20, a yearly saving of $46.20 on that medicine. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing estimates millions of Australians with ongoing conditions benefit from the change.

Source: derived from the 2026 co-payments in PBS co-payments, Department of Health: twelve fills a year against six.

To compare what the same script costs between pharmacies, see our script cost comparison guide.

What it means for your PBS Safety Net

The PBS Safety Net protects you once your family's medicine spending passes a yearly threshold. Every co-payment you make counts towards it once, and it counts the same whether that fill was one month or two.

Because a 60-day script means fewer fills, you make fewer co-payments across the year, so you reach the threshold more slowly. For 2026, Services Australia sets the threshold at $1,748.20 for general patients and $277.20 for concession cardholders, and says that once you reach it, general patients pay up to $7.70 an item for the rest of the calendar year while concession cardholders pay nothing.

If you are close to the threshold, your pharmacist can check your record and tell you how close you are.

At the pharmacy counter

Collecting a 60-day script looks the same as any other. You send the electronic prescription (eScript) token your prescriber texts or emails to your phone, or present a paper script. You then pay one co-payment and receive two months' supply.

A few things are worth knowing. Stock can vary, so a smaller pharmacy may need to order a two-month quantity if it does not usually hold that much, and the first fill might take an extra day before it becomes routine. Medicines that need refrigeration take up more room at two months' supply, and you can ask the pharmacy for an insulated bag to carry them home. If you have your medicines packed into a dose-administration aid, you still collect that pack on its usual weekly or fortnightly cycle, because the 60-day rule changes how often the prescription is filled, not how often the pack is prepared.

At the counter

One co-payment, two months in hand

You collect a 60-day script the same way as any other, paying a single co-payment and walking out with two months' supply rather than one.

If a two-month supply does not suit you, because you are travelling, short on storage, or your dose is still being adjusted, you can ask whether a one-month quantity of the same script is possible. Your prescriber and pharmacist can arrange that with you.