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National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters)

Current status

This bill became law on Sep 26th, 2024.

Policy area

Health, care & disability

What does this bill do?

Medicine suppliers and PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing rules keep operating as they have since 1 July 2022, because this Act makes technical clarifications rather than changing how the law works.

Why was it introduced?

Unclear PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. rules left doubt about whether old price cuts could be counted again in the 12.5% averaging test and exactly when a medicine brand became a designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules. from 1 July 2022. This bill clarifies those points and validates past pricing decisions so the scheme keeps operating as intended.

Broader context

The 2021 PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. reforms created new pricing and stockholding rules for older and low-cost medicines, and those arrangements began operating from 1 July 2022 to keep subsidies aligned with market prices while supporting more reliable supply. After the rules took effect, uncertainty remained about whether earlier price cuts could be counted again in the 12.5 per cent averaging test and exactly when a brand became a designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules., so the 2024 bill clarified those points and validated decisions already made under the scheme.

Key criticism

No significant public case against the bill itself was recorded; the closest criticism was that these technical fixes would not address medicine shortages or broader delays in health policy reform. Coalition speakers including Barnaby Joyce, Nola Marino, Anne Ruston and Sarah Henderson raised those wider concerns while still supporting the bill.

Who supported it?

Ged Kearney MP introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.

Introduced in House 21 Aug 2024
Passed House 11 Sept 2024
Passed Senate 19 Sept 2024
Became law 26 Sept 2024

Did it become law?

Yes

Became law 26 Sept 2024

Final passage

Passed without a counted vote

Members called out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ — no individual votes were recorded.

Passage speed

36 days

From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step

Official record

View on APH

Parliament of Australia bill page

Meaning

What does this bill do?

  1. Medicine suppliers and PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing rules keep operating as they have since 1 July 2022, because this Act makes technical clarifications rather than changing how the law works.

  2. Drug price cuts under the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. cannot be counted again in the 12.5% averaging test if they already came from the same three reporting periods used for that test.

  3. Older PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. medicine brands will switch into the special designated-brand rules at a clearer, consistent time, which matters for later price thresholds, stockholding duties and limits on further price cuts.

  4. Past PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing and related decisions made from 1 July 2022 up to the day before this Act started are confirmed as legally valid, reducing doubt for government and medicine suppliers.

Show source excerpts
  1. The Bill clarifies the operation of sections 99ADH and 99ADHC of the Act which relate to designated brands which are subject to the price disclosure thresholds outlined in section 99ADH, the floor price protections in Division 3BA and the minimum stockholding requirements in Division 3CAA of the Act. The Bill includes technical amendments only, which are intended for avoidance of doubt and do not alter the operation of the existing provisions which have been in effect since 1 July 2022.
    National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters) explanatory memorandum
  2. Item 2 adds two new subsections (8) and (9) at the end of section 99ADH to clarify the operation of paragraph (6)(b). Subsection 99ADH(8) clarifies that, for a brand to pass the 12.5% average unadjusted price reduction test, a price reduction cannot have occurred as a result of calculations using data from any of the 3 consecutive data collection periods (1.5 years) which are referred to in subsection 99ADH(6) (and which form the basis for the unadjusted price reductions which are averaged and tested by paragraph 99ADH(6)(a)). If data from any of the 3 consecutive data collection periods examined by the 12.5% average unadjusted price reduction test has resulted in a price reduction under section 99ADH, then the test would not be passed. A price reduction occurring on a reduction day which falls within the date range which is spanned by the 3 consecutive data collection periods, does not prevent the 12.5% average unadjusted price reduction test being passed, unless the price reduction occurred as the result of calculations using data from one of the 3 consecutive data collection periods examined by the 12.5% average unadjusted price reduction test.
    National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters) explanatory memorandum
  3. The purpose of these amendments is to provide clarity regarding which data collection period the ‘previous data collection period’ is, which is used when determining whether or not paragraph 99ADHC(1)(a) is satisfied for a brand. This in turn ensures it is clear that each of the operative provisions associated with a designated brand are effective from the same date on which a brand becomes a designated brand.
    National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters) explanatory memorandum
  4. Item 6 validates past actions arising out of section 99AHD and 99ADHC during the period from the commencement of the Amendment Act (1 July 2022) to the end of the day before the commencement of this Bill.
    National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters) explanatory memorandum

Context

Broader context for this bill

The 2021 PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. reforms created new pricing and stockholding rules for older and low-cost medicines, and those arrangements began operating from 1 July 2022 to keep subsidies aligned with market prices while supporting more reliable supply. After the rules took effect, uncertainty remained about whether earlier price cuts could be counted again in the 12.5 per cent averaging test and exactly when a brand became a designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules., so the 2024 bill clarified those points and validated decisions already made under the scheme.

  1. 2021

    Parliament creates new PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing and stockholding rules

    The National Health Amendment (Enhancing the Pharmaceutical Benefits SchemeThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices.) Act 2021 set up the designated-brand arrangements for older and low-cost medicines to improve pricing and supply reliability.

    Hansard ↗
  2. 01 July 2022

    The new PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. rules begin operating

    From this date the designated-brand and price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. provisions were intended to operate, including the rules later clarified by the 2024 bill.

    Hansard ↗
  3. 21 Aug 2024

    Government introduces a bill to clarify the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. rules

    The bill was introduced to remove doubt about the averaging price disclosure thresholdThe 12.5% test used here to decide whether a medicine has been discounted enough over three data periods to trigger a further PBS price cut., the timing of designated-brand status and the validity of past pricing decisions.

    Hansard ↗
  4. 19 Sept 2024

    Parliament passes the bill

    Both houses passed the bill in the same form, clearing the way for the technical clarifications and validation provisions to take legal effect.

    Parliamentary timeline ↗
  5. 26 Sept 2024

    Royal AssentThe formal step that turns the bill into law. confirms the clarifications in law

    Royal AssentThe formal step that turns the bill into law. turned the bill into an Act, confirming that PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing and related decisions made from 1 July 2022 remained legally valid.

    Parliamentary timeline ↗

Legislative route

How did it move through Parliament?

House Senate
Introduced 21 Aug 2024

The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.

Introduced and read a first time

Second reading opened 21 Aug 2024

A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.

Second reading moved

Second reading debate 10 Sept 2024

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Sent to Federation Chamber for debate 10 Sept 2024

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Referred to Federation Chamber

Federation Chamber debate 10 Sept 2024

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Second reading debate

House second reading agreed 10 Sept 2024

The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.

Second reading agreed to

Returned from Federation Chamber 11 Sept 2024

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Reported from Federation Chamber

House third reading agreed 11 Sept 2024

The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.

Third reading agreed to

Introduced 11 Sept 2024

The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.

Introduced and read a first time

Second reading opened 11 Sept 2024

A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.

Second reading moved

Second reading debate 19 Sept 2024

The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.

Senate second reading agreed 19 Sept 2024

The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.

Second reading agreed to

Senate third reading agreed 19 Sept 2024

The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.

Third reading agreed to

Passed both houses 19 Sept 2024

Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.

Finally passed both Houses

Assent 26 Sept 2024

The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe formal step that turns the bill into law., turning the bill into an Act.

Key criticism

The main case against this bill

No significant public case against the bill itself was recorded; the closest criticism was that these technical fixes would not address medicine shortages or broader delays in health policy reform. Coalition speakers including Barnaby Joyce, Nola Marino, Anne Ruston and Sarah Henderson raised those wider concerns while still supporting the bill.

No party represented in the debate opposed the bill itself.

Votes

Recorded votes

How the bill itself passed

The bill passed both chambers on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage.

Passed

House passed the bill

House agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.

11 Sept 2024

Passed on the voices

In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.

Passed

Senate passed the bill

Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.

19 Sept 2024

Passed on the voices

In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.

Parliamentary debate

Who spoke, and what they said

Start here — lead voices

Sponsor speech Supports

Ged Kearney

Australian Labor Party • MP 21 Aug 2024

Kearney supports the bill as a set of technical corrections that clarify how price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. and designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules. rules work under the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices..

Read in Hansard ↗
Lead supporting voice Supports

Nola Marino

Liberal Party • MP 10 Sept 2024

Marino supports the bill, saying it highlights the importance of stockholding requirements and the need for better medicine supply.

Read in Hansard ↗
Lead voice Supports

Anne Ruston

Liberal Party • Senator 19 Sept 2024

Ruston says the coalition will support the bill because it makes technical clarifications to the price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. rules and protects the operation of the earlier pharmaceutical agreement.

Read in Hansard ↗
Lead voice Supports

Barnaby Joyce

National Party • MP 10 Sept 2024

Barnaby Joyce says the opposition will support the bill because it makes only technical clarifications to the pharmaceutical pricing rules and reflects a strategic agreement with the medicines industry.

Read in Hansard ↗

All speeches by bloc

Labor

3 speakers · 3 support

  1. Jenny McAllister McAllister supports the bill as a set of technical, clarifying amendments that do not change the existing scheme but remove doubt about how the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. and designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules. rules operate.
    “This Bill will make technical amendments only, which are intended for avoidance of doubt and therefore are not intended to change the operation of the provisions in the Amendment Act which have been in effect since 1 July 2022.”

    Australian Labor Party • Senator • 11 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
  2. Ged Kearney ★ Kearney supports the bill as a set of technical corrections that clarify how price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. and designated brandA medicine brand that has met the PBS timing and discount tests and is then subject to extra pricing and stockholding rules. rules work under the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices..
    “In conclusion, this bill includes technical amendments only that will provide clarity regarding the operation of sections 99ADH and 99ADHC of the National Health Act 1953 that relate to designated brands. These amendments are consistent with the parliament's intention when it passed the amendment act and the overarching policy intent of the price disclosure regime.”

    Australian Labor Party • MP • 21 Aug 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
  3. Don Farrell Farrell supports the bill and says it is a set of technical fixes that clarify how the PBSThe federal subsidy system that helps Australians buy prescription medicines at lower prices. pricing rules work without changing their operation.
    “The bill will continue to deliver a stronger Medicare and PBS. I commend it to the Senate.”

    Australian Labor Party • Senator • 19 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗

Coalition

4 speakers · 4 support

  1. Nola Marino ★ Marino supports the bill, saying it highlights the importance of stockholding requirements and the need for better medicine supply.
    “I'm pleased to speak on the National Health Amendment (Technical Changes to Averaging Price Disclosure Threshold and Other Matters) Bill 2024 because, in part, it reflects on the importance of the stockholding requirements.”

    Liberal Party • MP • 10 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
  2. Anne Ruston ★ Ruston says the coalition will support the bill because it makes technical clarifications to the price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. rules and protects the operation of the earlier pharmaceutical agreement.
    “The coalition will support this bill because it clarifies the provisions of the 2021 amendment act, which was brought in under the former coalition government and forms part of the important strategic agreements we made with the pharmaceutical industry.”

    Liberal Party • Senator • 19 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
  3. Barnaby Joyce ★ Barnaby Joyce says the opposition will support the bill because it makes only technical clarifications to the pharmaceutical pricing rules and reflects a strategic agreement with the medicines industry.
    “Once again, the opposition will support this bill, which forms part of the important strategic agreement that the coalition achieved with Australia's medicines industry, for the benefit of patients across Australia. I commend this bill to the House.”

    National Party • MP • 10 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
  4. Sarah Henderson Henderson says the coalition will support the bill because it is a technical clarification and does not change the existing price disclosureThe rule that cuts a medicine's subsidised price when suppliers show they are selling it more cheaply in the market. rules.
    “The coalition will support this bill, because it clarifies the provisions of the 2021 amendment act, which was brought in under the former coalition government and forms part of the important strategic agreements we made with the pharmaceutical industry.”

    Liberal Party • Senator • 19 Sept 2024

    Read the full speech in Hansard ↗

Record

Full record

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