Food or medicine - a choice some Aussies need to make after drug price-hike

The maximum co-payment for PBS listed medicines went up by $1.60 to $31.60 for general patients and up by 40 cents to $7.70 for concessional card holders.

The increase was in line with inflation but will only add to the pain faced by many low income Australians who are already reporting not filling scripts or cutting back on the amount of medications they take as they face massive cost of living hikes.

"Instead of the Commonwealth Government putting the price of medicines up they should be doing in fact the complete opposite and easing the cost-of-living burden on Australians," said Pharmacy Guild national president, Professor Trent Twomey.

The organisation is campaigning to reduce the maximum co-payment for PBS medicines from $31.60 to $19.

"Australia has the third highest out-of-pocket expenses for essential medicines in the developed world", Professor Twomey said.

"The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 1.1 million Australians are delaying, deferring or going without their essential medicines on a weekly and monthly basis.

"We have been calling on this government to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to essential healthcare."

The PBS has a petition calling for government action on the cost of PBS medications.

In a positive move, patients will no longer have to pay an administration fee to a community pharmacy for National Immunisation Program vaccination.

Professor Twomey said the change would see more pharmacies be able to administer more vaccines which would free up appointments at doctors' surgeries.

"All Australians will be able to ask their pharmacist for all vaccinations on the Commonwealth Government's National Immunisation Program," he said. "This is great news for Australians, great news for Australian families because it means they no longer have to wait up to four days in a capital city or even four weeks in a rural or regional area to secure an appointment with the general practitioner."