60-day prescriptions: who can get one and what they save

What is a 60-day prescription?

A 60-day prescription lets you get twice as much of a PBS medicine on one script: two months’ supply instead of one. You pay one co-payment for it, so you pay less over the year and make half as many trips to the pharmacy for that medicine.

Only medicines on the PBS’s 60-day list can be prescribed this way. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee reviews the list from time to time, and more medicines can be added after each review.

Who can get one?

To get a 60-day prescription, you must:

1. live with a stable, ongoing health condition
2. have discussed your medicine with your prescriber and been assessed as suitable
3. have a new 60-day prescription.

You don’t need a concession card. Your prescriber (a doctor, nurse practitioner or optometrist) decides whether a 60-day supply suits you and how much medicine to prescribe. An existing 30-day script stays a 30-day script, so ask about a 60-day one at your next appointment.

Which medicines are on the list?

The PBS’s 60-day list shows every medicine and strength that can be prescribed for 60 days, searchable by name. It includes many medicines taken long term, such as atorvastatin, amlodipine, apixaban and alendronate.

Medicines in short supply aren’t considered for the list until the shortage is resolved. Because you get the same amount of medicine over a year, only in fewer and larger supplies, 60-day scripts don’t cause shortages.

How much does it save?

The most you pay for a PBS script in 2026 is $25, or $7.70 with a concession card. A 60-day script halves the number of co-payments for that medicine, so it saves up to:

These are the savings for a medicine that costs the full co-payment, taken all year. You’ll save less in two cases:

• The medicine costs less than the co-payment. Pharmacies set their own price for these. A 60-day supply is usually cheaper than two 30-day supplies, but where a pharmacy discounts 30-day scripts heavily, the two can cost the same.
• Your brand carries a brand premium. A 60-day supply of that brand costs two premiums, one for each pack. A brand without a premium avoids them.

Saving on co-payments can also mean you reach the PBS Safety Net later in the year, or not at all. There’s more on co-payments, brand premiums and the Safety Net in what a PBS prescription costs in 2026.

How do I get one?

Ask your GP, nurse practitioner or optometrist at your next appointment whether any of your medicines can be prescribed for 60 days, and whether you’re suitable. Then fill the script at any pharmacy, as you would any other. To compare prices on medicines that cost less than the co-payment, find pharmacies near you or browse pharmacies by state and ask.