Lower General Patient Charge for National Health Act Services
National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Mark Butler MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Mark Butler ALP
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. N ational Health A mendment (C heaper M edicines ) B ill 2025 It is a privilege to introduce the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill. This bill delivers on the government’s promise to deliver cheaper medicines for all Australians.”
Ali France ALP
“Let me take you back. It’s 2004. Aussie classic Shannon Noll’s ’What about me?’ is playing on the radio—although, personally, I prefer the original; sorry, Shannon—along with songs like Britney Spears’s ’Toxic’ and Usher’s ’Yeah!’. A new social media platform has launched, a little-known website called Facebook. All the kids want to play Super Mario on the brand-new Nintendo DS gaming console.”
Melissa McIntosh LIB
“I rise today to speak on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a critical component of Australia’s health system. For decades it has ensured that Australians can access affordable medicines and treatments when they need them most.”
Madonna Jarrett ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. Access to universal, free health care is one of Labor’s greatest legacies to Australians. I don’t know how my parents, with their eight children, could possibly have managed without free access to health care via Medicare and subsidised medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.”
Kate Chaney IND
“I’m speaking today in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. This is a bill that aims to ease the financial burden on Australians and improve access to essential medicines, which I commend.”
Tom French ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. This bill is about fairness, dignity and ensuring that no Australian has to choose between paying the bills and filling a prescription. Labor built Medicare, Labor built the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Labor will always act to make health care affordable. This bill continues that legacy.”
“The member for Moore has just outlined the critical nature of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 and given us a deeply personal insight into why it is important. I commend him for that revelation. I also know of a former colleague, Nola Marino, the former member for Forrest, and her deeply personal crusade about endometriosis.”
“I am proud to rise today to speak on this legislation, the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025, which is part of the Albanese Labor government’s dedication to more affordable and accessible health care for all Australians. It is also part of the extensive raft of cost-of-living measures that this government has initiated.”
Emma Comer ALP
“Take Rose, a Redcliffe pensioner who wrote to my office. She fills six scripts a month for arthritis and other health issues. Because of the freeze, she won’t see her costs creep up year after year. She can plan her budget, pay her bills and still afford the medicines that keep her healthy and independent.”
Sam Lim ALP
“I rise to make my contribution on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. I can only speak highly of this bill and the real cost-of-living relief that cheaper medicines will provide. I naturally think of Tangney when I think about why this bill is important and who this bill will benefit. Cheaper medicines benefit so many people, but here is one of them.”
Renee Coffey ALP
“I ask you to cast your mind back to 2004. Australia’s Mary Donaldson married Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark. The game World of Warcraft was released on PC, Britney Spears sang ’Toxic’ while Shannon Noll asked, ’What about me?’ Facebook had just been founded, Shrek 2 was the biggest film, a Big Mac cost $4.”
Alison Byrnes ALP
“I am pleased to rise today to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. People in my community, like so many around Australia, are struggling with the cost of living. Medicines and health care are the No. 1 issue for so many people and making sure our country doesn’t go the way of others, where it is only those who can afford health care who receive it.”
Leon Rebello LNP
“I rise to speak on this National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 because it’s a bill about access to health care and the medicines that people need to go about their lives. During the recent campaign, I had an opportunity to doorknock and speak to a number of people across my electorate of McPherson, which is the southern Gold Coast.”
Carol Berry ALP
“To begin with, I do need to address some of the comments made by the member for Macpherson. I challenge the idea that consistent performance on the part of the coalition has been there in relation to the defence of the PBS and the defence of public health. Only the Labor Party has consistently defended public health and consistently defended the PBS. In fact, we introduced the PBS.”
Basem Abdo ALP
“I want to thank the member for Whitlam for her contribution, and I’m proud to stand alongside her in support of this bill, which does precisely what it says. It delivers cheaper medicines—a simple, principled objective to be delivered by the Albanese Labor government.”
David Moncrieff ALP
“Looking after each other is a key part of what it means to be Australian. It’s why Australians are so proud of Medicare, it’s why Australians are so proud of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and it’s why I am so proud to support the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025.”
Anne Urquhart ALP
“I rise to speak on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. As we know, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a pillar of Australian health care. It’s life changing and life saving for Australians. Each of us benefits from this universal and inclusive scheme.”
Justine Elliot ALP
“I, too, rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. The bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to cut the maximum cost of PBS medicines by 20 per cent from $31.60 to $25. It was a Labor government that created the PBS so that every Australian could afford the medicine that they needed.”
Peter Khalil ALP
“I also rise in support of Labor’s National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025, which will freeze the price of PBS medicines at just $25. It’s a remarkable thing, because it’s so important. Why is this so important for the community?”
Ash Ambihaipahar ALP
“I rise today to speak in strong support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. This is not just a piece of legislation. It is, absolutely, a lifeline for millions of Australians. It goes to the heart of what we stand for as a Labor government: fairness, dignity and health equity.”
“The laser-like focus of the Albanese government over the past three years has been on providing cost-of-living relief for all Australians, and this National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 delivers on a commitment that we made in the lead-up to the last election to make medicines even cheaper for all Australians.”
“At the last election, Labor promised the Australian people cheaper medicines. The National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 is about keeping that promise. Under this bill, the most you will pay for a script on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is $25—just 25 bucks—the lowest amount since 2004. Let me take you all back to 2004 for a moment.”
“I rise in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. From 1 January 2026, the cost of buying PBS approved medicines will fall from $31.60 to $25. This is definitely a welcome change and a genuine relief for millions of Australians who rely on PBS every single day, but we must make one thing clear.”
Wendy Askew LIB
“I too rise today in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025, which is a bill that delivers on a clear and urgent promise to make medicines more affordable for Australians. This bill reduces the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the PBS, general co-payment from $31.60 to $25.”
Ellie Whiteaker ALP
“I also rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. This bill lowers the cost of PBS medicines for general patients to $25—the lowest it has been in more than 20 years. It will save households across the country more than $200 million every single year.”
Helen Polley ALP
“I rise to speak on the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill, and I’m also proud to be part of the Anthony Albanese Labor government, who continue to deliver on our election commitments. The cost of prescriptions is a significant concern for many Australians, especially those who have challenges with the cost of living.”
Jana Stewart ALP
“Today I rise in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. Labor has always been the party of health care, from Chifley’s 1946 amendment enshrining health care in our Constitution to Whitlam’s universal healthcare reforms and Hawke’s Medicare. Now, under the Albanese Labor government, we continue that tradition with our cheaper medicines bill.”