It was the policy change that one of the country’s most powerful lobby groups warned would lead to hundreds of pharmacies closing and put thousands of people out of work, and reduced its president, Trent Twomey, to tears.
The reality has been rather different.
The introduction of 60-day scripts for about 320 common medicines, announced by Health Minister Mark Butler in the lead-up to May 2023 budget, was designed to save people time and money by allowing them to purchase two months’ worth of common medicines, rather than one, for the same $30 co-payment to their pharmacy.
The change also meant pharmacists would lose money because they would receive fewer dispensing fees.
When the decision was announced, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which represents about 5900 community pharmacy owners, was furious.
In a fiery press conference at Parliament House, Twomey hit out at Butler and the government because they “don’t give a shit” about the impact on pharmacists and told government MPs to “get off your arse” and talk to the business owners hit by the change.
Twomey later apologised for his language, saying: “I’m a north Queenslander. I don’t mean to swear, but they just don’t care. You know, this is supposed to be a government that cares. This is not how one operates.”
The guild, one of the most powerful lobby groups in Australia, declared war on the proposal and the federal opposition piled on, too.
A couple of months later, the guild released “a major new independent report” – which it had commissioned – by economist and The Australian columnist Henry Ergas and the Relational Insights Data Lab at Griffith University to back up its dire warnings.
“As many as 20,000 jobs will be lost, 665 pharmacies will close and Australia’s most vulnerable patients will suffer under the Albanese government’s 60-day dispensing policy,” thundered the first line of the media release.
The modelling also claimed the change could put another 900 pharmacies at risk of closure, resulting in staff losses and reduced opening hours and services while pharmacy owners would lose an estimated $170,000 a year.
By September 2023, 200 pharmacists in white coats had come to Canberra to disrupt question time, shouting obscenities at the government and heckling Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
But the government stood its ground.
Nearly 18 months on from the policy change taking effect, Twomey’s dire warnings have proved misplaced.
New figures from the Department of Health and Ageing reveal that between September 1, 2023, when 60-day scripts began, and November 30, 2024, the department received a total of 165 applications to open new pharmacies. Of those applications, 87 were approved, leading to new pharmacies.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Trent Twomey with Health Minister Mark Butler last year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Rather than 665 pharmacies shutting their doors, just 22 pharmacies across Australia have closed.
The guild declined to answer questions about the number of pharmacy closures in Australia, how many jobs had been lost and if it stood by Ergas’ modelling.
Butler said that “despite claims that pharmacies would close because of 60-day prescriptions, the opposite has happened”.
“More pharmacies have opened and they’re delivering more services.
“The Albanese government has had a laser-like focus on delivering cheaper medicines. Our hard-fought reforms are delivering cheaper medicines to millions of Australians – already saving them more than $1 billion in out-of-pocket costs. We know it’s not just good for patients’ hip pocket, it’s also good for their health.”
The changes haven’t been all bad news for pharmacists either.
At the time the policy was announced in April 2023, Butler promised the $1.2 billion in dispensing fees the government would save from 60-day scripts would be ploughed back into community pharmacies so they could expand their services.
In a reminder of the guild’s influence and power, negotiations over the next community pharmacy agreement were brought forward by about a year, and in March 2024, an extra $3 billion was promised to pharmacists over five years by Butler. The guild ended its anti-government campaign.
Australian pharmacies stayed open, the guild confirmed its status as one of the country’s most influential lobby groups, and 60-day scripts are here to stay.
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