The PBS Safety Net
The PBS Safety Net lowers what you pay for PBS medicines once you, or your family, have spent a set amount on them in a calendar year. For 2026 the threshold is $1,748.20 for general patients and $277.20 for concession card holders; after it, with a Safety Net card, PBS medicines cost up to $7.70 for general patients and are free for concession card holders.
Thresholds as at October 2026 · reset each 1 January
The four figures for 2026
The Safety Net is counted over a calendar year and usually resets on 1 January. These thresholds took effect on 1 January 2026.
General patients
- Each PBS medicine, before the threshold
- up to $25.00
- Safety Net threshold
- $1,748.20
- Each PBS medicine, with a Safety Net card
- up to $7.70
Concession card holders
- Each PBS medicine, before the threshold
- up to $7.70
- Safety Net threshold
- $277.20
- Each PBS medicine, with a Safety Net card
- free
A brand or therapeutic group premium, or a delivery or after-hours fee, may be charged on top of these amounts.
As at October 2026 · servicesaustralia.gov.au · pbs.gov.au
Two changes sit behind these numbers. The National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Act 2025 brought the general co-payment down to $25.00 on 1 January 2026, with yearly indexation to resume from 1 January 2027. The concession co-payment is frozen at $7.70 for five calendar years, 2025 to 2029.
A worked example
How many scripts reach the threshold?
Imagine every PBS script costs the most it can before the threshold. This is a ceiling, not a typical bill: some PBS medicines cost less than the co-payment, and choosing a dearer brand can add an amount that does not count.
- Concession: 35 scripts × $7.70$269.50
- Concession: 36 scripts × $7.70$277.20
36 cells, one per script: at $7.70 each, they reach $277.20 exactly. The PBS notes that the number of scripts to reach the concession threshold was lowered to 36 on 1 July 2022.
- General: 69 scripts × $25.00$1,725.00
- General: 70 scripts × $25.00$1,750.00
At the full $25.00, a general patient would pass the $1,748.20 threshold on the 70th script. After that, with a Safety Net card, each PBS script would cost up to $7.70 for the rest of the year.
What counts towards the threshold
Services Australia sets out where spending counts, and where it doesn’t.
Counts
- PBS and RPBS medicines bought at community pharmacies.
- PBS medicines from private hospitals approved to supply them.
- PBS medicines from outpatient pharmacies at public hospitals, and non-PBS medicines from those outpatient pharmacies too.
- Your family’s PBS spending, combined, if you use the record form.
May not count
- The extra cost of a more expensive brand when two or more brands of the same medicine are available.
- An early supply of a medicine. Once the threshold is reached, an early supply can’t be had at the Safety Net rate either.
Who counts as a family
For the Safety Net, Services Australia counts as a family a couple who are married and not separated, a de facto couple with or without dependent children, or a single person with dependent children. A dependent child has to meet all three of its tests: younger than 16, or a full-time student younger than 25; attending school, college or university; and getting substantial financial support.
From first script to Safety Net card
- Keep a record. Services Australia says you need to keep track of what you spend on PBS medicines during the year, using the PBS/RPBS Safety Net prescription record form, a print-out from each pharmacy, or a pharmacy that keeps a computer record for you.
- Hand over the form. You type your details on page one, print both pages, and hand both to the pharmacist each time a prescription is filled, so they can record the spending.
- Reach the threshold. Once you reach it, the pharmacist gives you a Safety Net card.
- Use the card. It is valid from the date it is issued until the end of the calendar year.
If you passed the threshold without a card
If you spend over the threshold before you get a card, you may get a refund. Services Australia’s claim form for this, the Patient claim for refund Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) form, also covers buying medicine without showing your Medicare or concession card.
Related rules worth knowing
A PBS script usually covers about a month. For certain medicines, someone whose chronic condition is stable has been able to get 60 days’ supply at a time since September 2023; healthdirect suggests a doctor can say which medicines qualify. healthdirect also notes that a few pharmacies hold no PBS licence, and a medicine bought there costs its full price.