General information
This guide is general information, not personal medical advice, and may change over time. Always check anything that affects you with your pharmacist or GP. In an emergency, call 000.
If you hold a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, or a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) card, every PBS-listed script costs you $7.70 instead of the general co-payment of $25. The annual PBS Safety Net threshold drops from $1,748.20 to $277.20. Once you cross it, every subsequent PBS script for the rest of the calendar year is free. The savings can run into hundreds of dollars a year on a single chronic medicine and into the thousands across a household. For background on how the PBS sets prices, start with the pillar guide.
Key facts
- Concession PBS co-pay in 2026 is $7.70 vs $25 general; the gap is $17.30 per script.
- Concession Safety Net threshold is $277.20 in 2026 (general is $1,748.20).
- After threshold, concession holders get free PBS scripts; general patients drop to $7.70.
- Two scripts a month saves about $415.20 a year before Safety Net.
- Concession rate is held at $7.70 until 2029 under the Cheaper Medicines reforms.
Who is eligible for a concessional PBS card
The concessional PBS co-payment applies if you hold any of the following. The card is issued by Services Australia or DVA, not by your pharmacy.
- Pensioner Concession Card (PCC): issued to recipients of the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, and certain other Centrelink payments.
- Health Care Card (HCC): issued to recipients of JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment, Family Tax Benefit (in some circumstances), and a range of other payments. Some Health Care Cards are time-limited and need renewal each year.
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC): for self-funded retirees over Age Pension age who meet an income test but are not on the pension.
- DVA Pensioner Concession Card, Gold Card, White Card, or Orange Card: depending on the entitlement category. For the full breakdown of DVA pharmacy entitlements, see our DVA pharmacy guide.
Show the physical or digital card at the pharmacy counter every time you fill a script. The pharmacy applies the concessional rate at the point of sale; no extra paperwork is involved.
The dollar savings on a single script
For 2026, the gap between general and concessional co-payments is $17.30 per script.
- General PBS co-payment: $25.00
- Concessional PBS co-payment: $7.70
If your medicine costs less than $7.70 at the dispensing price (a "below co-payment" medicine), you pay the actual price rather than the full concession rate. Some commonly used generics now fall into this band.
For a one-off script, $17.30 sounds modest. The accumulating saving on chronic medicines is the real number.
Annual savings on chronic medicines
Most Australians on regular medicines fill one to three scripts a month. The annual gap, before any Safety Net, looks like this:
| Scripts per month | Annual concession saving |
|---|---|
| 1 | $207.60 |
| 2 | $415.20 |
| 3 | $622.80 |
!Annual concession savings on PBS scripts before Safety Net, by monthly script volume
``chart type: bar title: Annual saving by concession card vs general patient, before Safety Net data: - label: "1 script/month" value: 207.60 note: "12 fills x $17.30 gap" - label: "2 scripts/month" value: 415.20 note: "24 fills x $17.30 gap" - label: "3 scripts/month" value: 622.80 note: "36 fills x $17.30 gap" ``
For a couple where both partners are on regular medicines, double the figure. For a household where any member is on five or more regular PBS medicines (common for people over 70 or with multiple chronic conditions), the saving routinely exceeds $1,200 in a single year, before the Safety Net is factored in.
How the Safety Net kicks in earlier for concession holders
The PBS Safety Net is calendar-year. It cuts in once your family's eligible PBS spending crosses a threshold. The threshold for concession holders is set far lower than for general patients.
- General Safety Net threshold (2026): $1,748.20
- Concession Safety Net threshold (2026): $277.20
At $7.70 a script, the concession threshold is reached after roughly 36 scripts in a calendar year. A household where two partners both fill two scripts a month reaches the threshold inside the first half of the year.
After the threshold is crossed:
- Concession card holders: every subsequent PBS script for the rest of the calendar year is free.
- General patients: every subsequent PBS script drops from $25 to $7.70.
Apply for the Safety Net card the day you cross. The card is backdated, and any scripts you filled at the full concession rate after the threshold can be refunded at the dispensing pharmacy. The application steps are in our Safety Net card guide.
Proving concession status at the pharmacy
Your physical or digital concession card is the proof. The pharmacy enters your concession number into the dispensing system, which applies the rate.
A few practical points:
- The card must be current. Health Care Cards in particular have an expiry date and need renewal.
- The card holder's name on the script must match the cardholder. If you are filling a script for your child, the child's name on the script is matched to your card if they are listed as a dependent.
- A digital card in the Express Plus Medicare app, the Centrelink app, or the DVA app is accepted at every Australian pharmacy.
- If you forgot the card, the pharmacy may still charge the general rate. You can ask for a refund of the difference within 12 months at the same pharmacy, with the original receipt and the card.
For DVA cardholders, the dispensing system also handles the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS), which subsidises a slightly broader list of medicines than the PBS. The pharmacy applies the RPBS rules automatically when your DVA number is on file.
What to do when your status changes
Concession status changes over time. Retirement, returning to work, a partner's income changing, or a child turning 16 can all affect what card you hold.
- If your card expires or is cancelled, you revert to the general $25 co-payment from your next script onwards. Tell the pharmacy at the next visit so your record reflects the change.
- If you become newly eligible (for example, you start receiving the Age Pension), bring the new card to the pharmacy. From that day, you pay the concession rate. You cannot retrospectively re-rate scripts dispensed before you held the card.
- If your card type changes (for example, from Health Care Card to Pensioner Concession Card), the concessional rate stays the same but other entitlements may change. Update the pharmacy with the new card number.
Services Australia notifies you in advance when a Health Care Card is approaching expiry. Update the renewal as soon as you can; even a short lapse means full co-payment on any script you fill in that window.
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Frequently asked questions
$7.70 per script for PBS-listed medicines. The rate is held at $7.70 until 2029 under the federal Cheaper Medicines reforms. If the medicine's actual price is below $7.70, you pay the actual price rather than the full $7.70.
