Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday the Minister for Health and Aged Care announced that the government will soon commence negotiations for an eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement. This agreement supports patient access to PBS subsidised medicines, programs and related services through community pharmacies across Australia. In the budget, we announced that savings from 60-day prescriptions will be reinvested into community pharmacy, and we are delivering on that commitment. Every single dollar saved by the government under this measure will be reinvested back into community pharmacy to ensure the ongoing strength of this essential sector. This includes by doubling the total budget of the regional pharmacy maintenance allowance, increasing the budget for community pharmacy programs, introducing nationally consistent pharmacy payments for opioid dependence treatment services, broadening funding for a number of immunisation program vaccines, increasing the regional pharmacy transition allowance and increasing payments for services like dispensing, handling, admin and infrastructure by seven per cent more for all community pharmacies.