General information
This guide is based on publicly available information from official sources, including the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Services Australia, Healthdirect and other Australian Government health and pharmacy bodies. It is general information, not personal medical advice, and may change over time. With any medicine, always read the label and use only as directed, and if symptoms persist see your doctor or health care professional. Check anything that affects you with your pharmacist or GP. In an emergency, call 000.
Last reviewed: 14th July 2026
An Active Script List, or ASL, is a single digital list of all your current prescriptions, so a pharmacy can dispense straight from it instead of you forwarding a separate token every time. It suits people who take several regular medicines and are tired of tracking a new message for each one.
The list holds your electronic prescriptions and any barcoded paper prescriptions, along with any repeats you have not used yet. Once you register, every new electronic prescription is added to your list automatically, according to the Australian Digital Health Agency, which runs the national electronic prescribing service.
An ASL is optional. If you would rather stay with the standard token model, our eScripts guide explains how that works, and our prescriptions in Australia guide covers the wider system.
What an Active Script List holds
An ASL is a current list of your prescriptions, not a full medical record. It shows your scripts and repeats, and none of the clinical detail a treating team would hold.
The Australian Digital Health Agency describes the ASL as a token management option for your prescriptions and repeats. Instead of keeping track of a separate token for each medicine, you keep one list that your pharmacy reads with your consent.
If your doctor gives you a barcoded paper prescription rather than an electronic one, the agency notes you must still present the paper copy, because a pharmacist is legally required to have it before supplying the medicine.
You can also choose to keep a particular medicine off the list. The agency advises asking your doctor not to add that medicine when they prescribe it.
How an ASL differs from the token model
With the standard token model, your prescriber sends a token to your phone by text message (SMS) or email, and you forward it to whichever pharmacy dispenses it. Each medicine is a separate token, and each repeat produces a new one. An ASL brings all of that into a single list your pharmacy can read once you consent.
| Token model | Active Script List | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your scripts sit | On your phone, one token at a time | In one list, held centrally |
| How the pharmacy gets the script | You forward the token or show its barcode | The pharmacy reads it from your list, with your consent |
| Repeats | A new token arrives after each fill | They stay on the list until they are used up |
| Setup | None | A one-off registration at a pharmacy |
| Best suited to | Occasional or one-off prescriptions | Several regular medicines |
token and Active Script List behaviour described by the Australian Digital Health Agency.
If you take one or two medicines, the token model is usually enough. If you take several regular medicines, an ASL is generally easier. Our repeat prescriptions guide explains how repeats behave under each option.
How to register for an ASL
Registering is a one-off, and you do it in person at a pharmacy. You never sign up again once your list is running.
Bring a mobile phone and your identification, and pharmacy staff or your prescriber set your list up on the spot.
The Australian Digital Health Agency advises visiting your pharmacy with a mobile phone and 100 points of identification. Most community pharmacies across Australia can register you, and a prescriber can also set one up during a consultation. Registration takes three steps, and you complete all three in that one visit.
After you register, you do not sign up again for each new prescription; it appears on the same list, and you can still ask for a token by text message or email if you prefer one. The agency's guidance is to ask staff to open your list and dispense from it when you collect a medicine.
If you would like to see and manage the list yourself, the agency says you can link it to a conformant mobile app, including an app your pharmacy already uses. Your pharmacist can give you an activation code to connect it.
How to give and remove pharmacy access
Registering does not tie you to a single pharmacy. Each pharmacy needs your consent before it can open your list, so you can give access to more than one over time, and you decide who holds it. You might add a new pharmacy after moving house, or to use one that delivers or keeps longer hours.
Consent is granted in person: you ask staff to open your list, and the pharmacy confirms the request through its dispensing software, usually by a message to your phone or email.
To take a pharmacy's access away, or to close your list entirely, the Australian Digital Health Agency directs you to email the Active Script List Registry provider at info@medicationknowledge.com.au. Your pharmacy can give you the right contact if you are unsure. For moving a partly used paper script between pharmacies, see our transfer a prescription guide.
- Choose each pharmacy. No pharmacy opens your list without your consent on the day.
- Add more than one. There is no single-pharmacy limit, so you can authorise several.
- Keep a medicine private. Ask your prescriber not to add it when they write it.
- End access by email. Email the registry provider to remove a pharmacy or close your list.
What an ASL means for your privacy
Under the agency's consent model, a pharmacy you authorise can see every active script and repeat on your list, including medicines from prescribers you have not mentioned to that pharmacy. What it holds is limited to your prescriptions, so the pharmacy gains no view of your wider health record.
If you would rather no single pharmacy saw your whole prescription list, you do not have to register. You can stay with the token model and forward only the scripts you want a given pharmacy to fill. If a token will not open or a pharmacy cannot find your script, our eScript troubleshooting guide sets out the common fixes.
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Frequently asked questions
No. The token model is the default and needs no sign-up. You can register for an ASL later if separate tokens become inconvenient, and you can return to tokens afterwards.
