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

Yes, I can, Senator Polley. Every single dollar that the government saves with the 60-day prescriptions will be reinvested straight back into the community pharmacy sector, so pharmacists play an even more central role in the health care of Australians. Some of the reinvest measures have already taken effect, like the doubling of the budget for the Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance and the changes to opioid dependency treatment for tens of thousands of Australians who can now buy medication at their PBS approved pharmacy at PBS prices. Other measures are on the way, like expanding the scope of pharmacists into residential aged care to work on-site in a clinical role, improving medication management and safety, and on January 1 we will further expand the National Immunisation Program to pharmacists and have pharmacists finally paid the same rate that a doctor gets to administer vaccines. We have also delivered a major increase in government payments to every single pharmacy around the country, which are now paid seven per cent more for services like dispensing, handling, administration and infrastructure.