Online Prescriptions

1. Find your prescription medication using the search bar at theonlinepharmacy.com.au
2. Add the prescription medication to your cart
3. Upload a photo of the original paper prescription and the corresponding yellow repeat form (alternatively you can email the images to [email protected])
4. Add any other medications and products to the shopping cart that you wish to purchase
5. Complete your order by proceeding to the checkout
6. You will receive a confirmation email which will explain how to finalise your prescription order
7. Mail your original paper prescription and the corresponding repeat forms to our pharmacy as soon as possible so that we can dispatch your order once the prescription is received by our team
   
   

1. Find your prescription medication using the search bar at theonlinepharmacy.com.au
2. Add the prescription medication to your cart and upload your Electronic Prescription (alternatively you can email the Electronic Prescription to [email protected])
3. Add any other medications and products to the shopping cart that you wish to purchase
4. Complete your order by proceeding to the checkout
5. You will receive a confirmation email and our pharmacy team will dispense and dispatch your order as soon as possible
   
   

At this stage The Online Pharmacy only supplies medications at a private cost, meaning we do not dispense under th Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), the maximum cost for a pharmaceutical benefit item at a pharmacy is $30.00 for general patients and $7.30 for concession card holders, plus any applicable special patient contribution, brand premium or therapeutic group premium. 

The pricing for prescription medication can be very confusing so here's a quick explanation of the different pricing criteria.

• If you hold a Medicare card and the medication is eligble under the PBS, you are entitled to this price.
• If you pay this price we will keep record of the eligible patient contribution towards your PBS safety net for the PBS medications supplied.
  
  

• If you hold a Medicare card and a valid concessional benefits card you are entitled to this price.
• Concessional cards include:
  • Pensioner Concession Card
  • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
  • Health Care Card
  • Repatriation Health Card for All Conditions (gold) — concessional patients under RPBS
  • Repatriation Health Card for Specific Conditions (white) — only regarded as concessional patients for RPBS prescriptions unless they hold a separate entitlement from Centrelink, otherwise they are general patients
  • Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Card (orange) — concessional patients under RPBS
  • Safety Net Concession Card or Safety Net Entitlement Card — issued by Services Australia.
• If you pay this price we will keep record of the eligible patient contribution towards your PBS safety net for the PBS medications supplied.
  
  

• This is the full price of the prescription medication, and medication is available to purchase at this price for anyone with a valid Australian prescription.
• When a prescription is dispensed at a private price you will not receive any safety net contribution towards your PBS safety net.
  
  

• If you hold a Medicare card and a valid safety net Entitlement Card you are entitled to this price.
  
  

The PBS Safety Net protects patients and their families requiring a large number of PBS or RPBS items. For the purposes of the scheme, the family includes the person:

• the partner or de facto partner;
• children under the age of 16 who are in the care and control of the person; or
• dependent full-time students under the age of 25.

The scheme requires pharmacists, on request by patients, to record the supply of PBS and RPBS items on prescription record forms. When a patient reaches the Safety Net threshold within a calendar year, they qualify to receive PBS or RPBS items at a cheaper price or free of charge for the rest of that year. Any applicable special patient contributions, brand premiums or therapeutic group premiums must still be met by the patient.

The Safety Net threshold is reached by accumulating eligible patient contributions for PBS prescriptions supplied through community pharmacies and private hospitals and for out-patient medication supplied by public hospitals.

Pharmaceutical benefits (including authority items) can only be counted towards the Safety Net threshold when prescribed and supplied according to PBS conditions. A medicine supplied by a pharmacist not approved to supply pharmaceutical benefits cannot count towards the Safety Net.

Prescriptions for some pharmaceutical items are not eligible for Safety Net benefits if re‑supplied as an ‘early supply’ (i.e. within a specified period after a previous supply of the same or an equivalent item for the same person. The patient contribution for an early supply does not count towards the Safety Net threshold (see also details under '4. Patient Charges' and '7. How Pharmacists Claim Reimbursement'). Early supply arrangements do not apply to out-patient medications in public hospitals or to any prescriptions originating from a hospital.

There are separate arrangements for PBS prescriptions in certain public hospitals. To obtain pharmaceutical benefits under these arrangements a patient must attend a participating public hospital and be a discharge patient or non-admitted patient. Only a medical practitioner providing medical treatment or a midwife providing midwifery treatment or a nurse practitioner providing nurse practitioner treatment in a participating public hospital may prescribe PBS subsidised medication. Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have these arrangements.

There are two Safety Net thresholds. The general patient Safety Net threshold is currently $1,563.50. When a person and/or their family's total applicable co-payments reach this amount, they may apply for a Safety Net concession card and pay the concessional co-payment amount of $7.30 plus any applicable premium for pharmaceutical benefits for the rest of that calendar year.

The concessional Safety Net threshold is $262.80 (this also applies to gold, white or orange card holders under the RPBS). When a patient and/or their family's total applicable co-payments reach this amount, they may apply for a Safety Net entitlement card and may receive pharmaceutical benefits free of charge (except for any applicable premium) for the rest of that calendar year.

Brand premiums, therapeutic group premiums and special patient contributions do not count towards the Safety Net thresholds.

The Safety Net thresholds are adjusted on 1 January each year in line with inflation.