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Pharmacy guides

Prescriptions & scripts

eScripts, repeats, transfers and the rules that decide what you pay.

A script from your GP is only the start of the process. This section covers how eScripts and the Active Script List work, when a pharmacy can transfer or repeat a prescription, and what changed when 60-day dispensing rolled out for eligible medicines. We update it as PBS and prescribing rules change.

A customer showing an electronic prescription on their phone to a pharmacist at the counter of an Australian pharmacy.Prescriptions & scripts

eScripts and prescription tokens: how they work

An eScript is the digital version of a prescription. Instead of a paper script, your GP sends a token to your phone by SMS or email, and you forward that token to the pharmacy of your choice. The token holds the prescription details; the pharmacy reads it, dispenses your medication, and the system regenerates a new token for any remaining repeats.

Updated 5 July 2026.

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