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Closing the Gap PBS

Cheaper or free PBS medicines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a chronic condition. Your GP registers you — it takes minutes.

📋 Sources: Services Australia — Closing the Gap PBS Co-payment Measure: servicesaustralia.gov.au. Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. This page provides general information only — not medical advice. PBS co-payment rates are indexed and may change — verify current rates at pbs.gov.au.
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Reduces co-payment
To concessional rate or less
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GP registers you
No paperwork for patient
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All PBS medicines
Not just some
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Works at any pharmacy
Once registered

What is the Closing the Gap PBS?

The Closing the Gap (CTG) PBS Co-payment Measure is an Australian Government program that reduces the amount Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people pay for PBS-listed medicines.

Once registered, what you pay drops: if you'd normally pay the general PBS rate (up to $25.00 per script), you instead pay the concessional rate ($7.70); and if you hold a concession card, your PBS medicines are free ($0). This applies to all PBS-listed medicines, not just specific ones. (Amounts as at March 2026 — co-payments are indexed each 1 January; current rates at pbs.gov.au.)

💸 What will I pay once registered?
Do you have a concession or health care card?

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people manage chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, asthma, or kidney disease — which often require ongoing medications. The CTG scheme helps make those medications more affordable.

Who is eligible?

✅ Identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
✅ Is living with, or at risk of, a chronic condition (such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, asthma, a mental health condition) — and in the prescriber's view would have setbacks managing it without their medicine
✅ Has a Medicare card
✅ Registered by a GP or ACCHO through Services Australia
There is no age restriction. Children and adults are both eligible if they meet the above criteria.

How to get registered — 3 steps

1
Tell your GP or health worker
Ask at your next appointment — or at your 715 health check. Just say you would like to be registered for the Closing the Gap PBS scheme.
2
GP registers you through Services Australia
Your GP submits the registration online — it takes a few minutes. You do not need to fill in any forms yourself.
3
Show your Medicare card at the pharmacy
Once registered, the pharmacist can apply the CTG co-payment reduction automatically when you collect a PBS prescription. No extra step needed from you.
🔍 Not sure if you are already registered?
Ask your pharmacist — they can check whether your Medicare number has CTG status applied. You can also check through the myGov app or by calling Services Australia on 132 011.

The CTG co-payment reduction applies to all PBS-listed medicines. It does not cover medicines that are not on the PBS (such as some vitamins, over-the-counter medicines, or brand-name medicines not listed on the PBS). Your pharmacist can tell you if a specific medicine is covered.

Yes. Once you are registered, the CTG status is linked to your Medicare number. Any pharmacy in Australia can apply the reduction when you show your Medicare card. You do not need to go to a specific pharmacy.

No. Registration is a one-time, for-life process — since the national register launched in 2021, it does not expire and does not need annual renewal. Your registration stays with your Medicare number even if you change GP, pharmacy or health service. If you're unsure whether you're registered, any GP, pharmacist or ACCHO can check your status.

The scheme is administered through Services Australia. Your GP can find instructions at servicesaustralia.gov.au or call the Health Professional Helpline on 132 150. ACCHOs are very familiar with CTG registration and can also help.

🩺 For clinicians: how to register a patient (HPOS) — tap to expand

Full clinician guide: CTG registration — eligibility check, HPOS steps & CTG scripts →

Who can register: any PBS prescriber, or an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner registered with both Ahpra and Medicare (or an authorised HPOS delegate). Patients can't self-register.

Eligibility (your clinical judgement): a First Nations patient living with, or at risk of, chronic disease who, in your opinion, would have setbacks preventing or managing it without their PBS medicine, and is unlikely to adhere without help with cost.

Register once (for life) via HPOS:

  1. Discuss the CTG PBS co-payment with the patient and get consent.
  2. Log in to HPOS via your PRODA account.
  3. Select My programs → Closing the Gap PBS Co-Payment register.
  4. Search the patient; if status is Inactive, select Register.
  5. Annotate scripts "CTG"; eligible items are Section 85 and Section 100 PBS medicines. Status is verified in real time at dispensing.

Registration is one-off and follows the patient across clinics and pharmacies. Remote clinics with limited internet can register by phoning Services Australia on 132 290.

Source: Services Australia — Closing the Gap PBS co-payment for health professionals / for prescribers; PBS CTG Co-payment Program factsheet (pbs.gov.au). See also our 715 health check billing guide.

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