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 eligible concession card reduces the maximum price of a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescription from $25.00 to $7.70 in 2026. It also gives your family a much lower PBS Safety Net threshold, after which eligible PBS medicines are supplied without a co-payment for the rest of the calendar year (current patient fees and charges, PBS).
This guide explains which cards qualify, how the saving is applied at the pharmacy and what to do if you forgot to show your card. For how the scheme sets its prices, start with our guide to the PBS.
Source: 2026 figures from current patient fees and charges, PBS and PBS Safety Net thresholds, Services Australia.
Cards that qualify for the concession rate
Services Australia issues these cards and decides who qualifies, not your pharmacy. Any of the following lets you claim the concession co-payment when a script is dispensed.
Source: Concession and health care cards, Services Australia.
The Health Care Card covers people on payments like JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment and the maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A, while the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is for self-funded retirees over Age Pension age who meet an income test but are not on a pension. A Pensioner Concession Card and a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card each last two years, while most Health Care Cards last a single year and need renewing (Services Australia). Whichever card you hold, the pharmacy applies the concession rate once it has your card details.
The pharmacy can only apply the concession rate once it sees a current card, so carry the plastic one or the digital version in your myGov account each time you collect a script.
How much does a concession card save per script?
The gap between the two co-payments is set for 2026, and it widens into a real saving over a year.
| Concession card holder | General patient | |
|---|---|---|
| Co-payment per PBS script | $7.70 | Up to $25.00 |
| Safety Net threshold (2026) | $277.20 | $1,748.20 |
| Cost after the threshold | Free | Up to $7.70 |
2026 figures from current patient fees and charges, PBS and PBS Safety Net thresholds, Services Australia. The co-payment is a ceiling; pharmacies can discount below it.
The Australian Government reduced the general co-payment to $25.00 on 1st January 2026 and is holding the concession rate at $7.70 until the end of 2029, so these figures apply for several years rather than one (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).
Some medicines are priced below $7.70. When that happens you pay the lower price rather than the full co-payment, and a pharmacy may also reduce the concession rate by up to 60 cents, though it does not have to (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). The PBS says prices can differ between pharmacies and that comparing them can be worthwhile; our guide on why script costs vary between pharmacies explains the range.
What the concession rate saves over a year
The saving is easiest to see across a full year. Applying the $17.30 difference to one, two or three scripts a month, before any Safety Net, gives a rough guide.
| Scripts per month | Yearly saving with a concession card |
|---|---|
| 1 | $207.60 |
| 2 | $415.20 |
| 3 | $622.80 |
calculated from the 2026 PBS co-payments, applying the $17.30 gap across 12, 24 and 36 scripts.
For a couple who both take regular medicines, the household saving is higher again, and the Safety Net below lowers the cost further as the year's spending grows.
The Safety Net starts earlier for concession holders
The PBS Safety Net works across a calendar year and resets on 1st January. Once your household's PBS spending passes the threshold, medicines cost less for the rest of the year. The PBS applies one threshold to a family unit, so a partner's and dependent children's scripts add to the same total (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).
For 2026 the concession threshold is $277.20, well under the $1,748.20 general threshold (Services Australia). At $7.70 a script, a concession holder reaches it after roughly 36 scripts in a year.
Once the threshold is reached, the PBS says concession card holders receive their PBS medicines at no further charge for the rest of the calendar year, while general patients then pay the $7.70 concession rate (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). You need a PBS Safety Net card to claim it, and pharmacies track your spending on a prescription record form. Our guide to applying for a Safety Net card sets out the steps, and the concession Safety Net guide covers how the lower threshold works in more detail.
The Closing the Gap co-payment program for First Nations people
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can access a separate saving through the Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment Program, usually shortened to CTG (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). The program is open to First Nations people of any age who have a Medicare card, where a prescriber or Aboriginal Health Practitioner judges that the person's health would suffer without their prescribed medicine.
The PBS describes the saving in two steps (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme):
- someone who would normally pay the general co-payment pays the concession rate instead
- someone who already holds a concession card receives their PBS medicines for free
Registration is a one-off step handled by a prescriber or Aboriginal Health Practitioner, not something you apply for yourself, and the script has to be dispensed by an approved supplier like a community pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).
How the pharmacy applies your concession rate
Your physical or digital card is the proof you need. The pharmacy reads your card details into its dispensing system, which applies the $7.70 rate immediately. Services Australia says you show the card each time you collect a PBS medicine to get the lower price, and a digital card in your myGov account or Centrelink app works the same as the plastic one (Services Australia).
Once the pharmacy has your current card, its dispensing system applies the $7.70 concession rate immediately, whether you show the plastic card or the digital one in your myGov account.
A few points are worth knowing:
- The card has to be current, since an expired card is charged at the general rate (Services Australia).
- The name on the script must match the cardholder. A child's script is claimed against the card of the parent the child is listed with, since dependent children appear on the card (Services Australia).
- If you leave the card at home, the concession price is not applied, because Services Australia requires the card to be shown (Services Australia). With the receipt, you can return and ask that pharmacy whether it will refund the difference.
Veterans' cards also connect to the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS), which the Department of Veterans' Affairs administers for eligible veterans. Our DVA pharmacy guide sets out those entitlements.
When your concession status changes
Concession status is not fixed. Retirement, returning to work, a change in a partner's income or a child reaching a certain age can all change which card you hold, or whether you hold one at all.
- If your card expires or is cancelled, you pay the general co-payment of up to $25.00 from your next script (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). The pharmacy updates its record once you tell it at your next visit.
- If you become newly eligible, showing the new card means you pay the concession rate from that day onward.
- Services Australia usually sends a reminder before a Health Care Card expires (Services Australia).
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Frequently asked questions
$7.70 at most. According to the PBS, the maximum concession co-payment is set to remain at $7.70 through 2029 (What are the current patient fees and charges?, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).
