分类： health

A new analysis from one of Australia’s leading independent think tanks has ignited fierce debate over pharmaceutical pricing, claiming that closed-door negotiations between the federal government and a powerful industry lobby have forced taxpayers and patients to overpay billions of dollars annually for prescription medications. The Grattan Institute’s new report pulls back the curtain on decades of opaque policy making, arguing that the Pharmacy Guild of Australia — the national body representing the majority of Australian community pharmacy owners — has leveraged its significant political influence to lock out patient representatives and hide critical cost data from public scrutiny during funding and policy negotiations.

Lead researcher and Grattan’s Health Program Director Peter Breadon argues that this closed negotiating model is a global outlier. “Unlike almost every other developed nation, Australia’s negotiations for pharmacy funding exclude all stakeholders outside the Guild and the government, and proceed almost entirely without public, evidence-based cost data,” Breadon explained in the report. “This poor governance structure has only delivered bad outcomes for everyone except pharmacy owners themselves.”

The report’s economic modelling estimates that Australian pharmacies collect nearly $3 billion annually in excessive dispensing fees, driven by a lack of market competition and restrictive industry rules that block widespread discounts for consumers. Under Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which subsidises most prescription medications for the public, the nation’s 6,000 community pharmacies fill 335 million prescriptions each year at a total taxpayer cost of $3.8 billion. Breadon’s analysis found the average dispensing fee — charged to cover the cost of verifying prescriptions, preparing medications, and providing patient counselling — currently sits at $9.24 per script, a figure that cannot be justified because the Guild has repeatedly blocked efforts to measure the actual cost of dispensing services.

“No one knows the real cost of filling a prescription in an Australian community pharmacy, and that is no accident,” Breadon said. “Fees should be set independently, tied to actual operational costs, not the outcome of closed-door bargaining. Unjustified inflated fees need to be scrapped entirely.”

The report also takes aim at the existing Community Pharmacy Agreements, which the institute says include overly generous funding terms that shield pharmacy owners from revenue declines while inflating profits at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. Breadon added that while regulatory rules already allow pharmacies to discount medications priced below the PBS maximum co-payment — a policy that has delivered $319 million in annual savings for patients in 2025 — a web of complex industry regulations prevents pharmacies from passing additional savings on to consumers for other prescription drugs. Simplifying these discount rules alone could deliver an extra $48 million in annual savings for Australian patients, the modelling found.

To fix the systemic flaws, the Grattan Institute is calling for a full overhaul of the negotiating framework: the federal government should open negotiations to independent, evidence-based fee-setting, the same model used for other Australian health care sectors. If wholesale reform is not pursued, Breadon said, patient representatives should at minimum be included at the negotiating table, with all cost data released to the public to justify final funding decisions. “The Australian government spends billions of dollars on community pharmacy services every year,” Breadon said. “Fairer fee structures and stronger competition will ensure the system works for patients, not just pharmacy owners.”

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has pushed back forcefully against the report’s claims, with National Vice President Simon Blacker arguing the organisation has a long track record of advancing affordable access to medications for Australians. Blacker highlighted the Guild’s recent collaboration with the federal government to cut the PBS general co-payment to $25 starting in January 2026, a reduction that will bring the co-payment to its lowest level since 2004 — only the second cut to the co-payment in the PBS’s entire history.

Blacker also reaffirmed the critical public health role that community pharmacies play across Australia, noting that increasingly, specially trained pharmacists are able to diagnose, treat, and prescribe for a wide range of common acute and chronic health conditions — a expanded scope of practice that Blacker says should be supported by a national consistent prescribing framework. Both the Grattan Institute and the Pharmacy Guild have acknowledged the essential role community pharmacies play in guaranteeing access to medicines, health advice, and frontline care for Australian communities, leaving the debate focused on governance and pricing rather than the core value of local pharmacy services.

After the deadly H5 strain of avian influenza was confirmed on Australian territory, zoos and wildlife parks across the country have rolled out sweeping emergency biosecurity measures and temporary operational changes to safeguard their captive animal populations, as the outbreak expands into three states.

The first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in Australia was recorded on June 20, when an infected migratory seabird was discovered on Western Australia’s south coast. In the weeks since, the virus has spread: five cases have now been confirmed in WA, two in South Australia, and one in New South Wales where an infected giant petrel was found at Hawks Nest. Just this week, South Australian health authorities confirmed the virus reached a native Australian bird species, marking a worrying escalation of the outbreak.

Unlike many other regions that faced sudden, unplanned outbreaks, Australia benefited from months of advance warning as the virus spread globally over recent years, allowing the nation’s major zoos to prepare contingency plans well before the first local case was detected.

At Adelaide Zoo, one of the country’s most high-profile wildlife attractions and the only Australian zoo that hosts giant pandas, management has taken the difficult step of temporarily closing multiple key attractions. The zoo’s popular walk-through aviaries are currently shut to visitors, the daily interactive little penguin experience has been suspended, and all free-flight bird shows featuring owls, macaws and other avian species have been called off indefinitely.

Phil Ainsley, chief executive of Zoos SA, which operates both Adelaide Zoo and the Monarto Safari Park, said that planning for the arrival of H5 bird flu has been underway for years. “Our core priority will always be the health and welfare of the animals under our care,” Ainsley explained. “We have comprehensive, tested response plans in place, and we stand ready to roll out additional biosecurity controls if the situation worsens. We are in constant close coordination with national and state government agencies, and all our actions follow the latest guidance from wildlife disease experts.”

Over at Perth Zoo, management has implemented a suite of layered precautionary measures designed to cut the risk of transmission between wild birds and captive species, particularly for some of the nation’s most at-risk endemic animals. Extra physical barriers, public hand sanitisation stations, and informational signs have been installed across the site — measures that echo the widespread public health protocols adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enclosure modifications now include covering the habitats of critically endangered species such as western ground parrots, numbats and black cockatoos with protective roofing barriers to prevent contact with wild birds.

Perth Zoo is also currently evaluating a policy that would require staff and visitors to wear personal protective equipment, including disposable foot coverings, when entering certain high-risk animal enclosures. While walk-through aviaries at the zoo remain open for now, management says full closure remains an active option if the outbreak spreads further. David van Ooran, Perth Zoo’s executive director, noted that the facility drew on years of insight from international zoo colleagues to build its response plan. “The biggest benefit we had was advance awareness of this threat, which let us learn from facilities overseas that have already navigated outbreaks and tailor our own response accordingly,” van Ooran said. “We believe our preparations put us in a strong position to manage this, and we are monitoring the changing situation closely every day.”

Van Ooran emphasized that the main transmission risk comes from wild birds that are drawn to the zoo’s lush botanical landscapes and water features, noting that the threat is shared across the entire community. “Like most zoos, we have beautiful green spaces and water features that naturally attract wild birds, that’s unavoidable,” he explained. “That said, we have a very detailed biosecurity plan in place, and we are looking at adding specialized sanitation mats at the entrances to our walk-through aviaries. While we have not had to close these exhibits yet, we are prepared to take that step if needed.”

Despite the new restrictions, van Ooran stressed that the zoo remains fully open to visitors, especially during the current busy school holiday period, and encouraged the public to visit as normal. “Our message to the community is clear: we are very much open for business, and the overall visitor experience will not change in any meaningful way,” he said. “We still encourage people to plan a trip and enjoy the zoo as they normally would.”

Taronga Zoo, which operates two major wildlife veterinary hospitals in Sydney, has implemented strict new protocols for people seeking care for sick wild birds: the facility now requires the public to call ahead before bringing any birds to the hospital, to reduce the risk of introducing the virus onto zoo grounds. Nationwide, zoos are urging members of the public not to attempt to transport sick or dead wild birds to zoos for veterinary care, to avoid accidental virus transmission.

Australia’s national health authorities have issued clear public guidance: any person who encounters a sick or dead wild bird is advised not to touch the animal, and to immediately report the sighting to the national Emergency Animal Disease Hotline at 1800 675 888.

Australia’s national food safety regulator has launched an urgent product recall targeting specific batches of a widely distributed chicken-flavored snack, after producers confirmed the presence of rubber contamination in affected packaging. Food Standards Australia (FSA) announced the recall Wednesday for certain production runs of Snackbrands Chickadees, a popular corn and rice-based snack sold across the country. The contamination was first identified by the snack’s manufacturer during routine quality checks, prompting the immediate nationwide recall notice. Affected products have been stocked at all major Australian grocery chains, including Woolworths, Coles, and independent IGA locations, making the recall relevant to consumers across every state and territory. The FSA has published a full list of affected batches to help customers identify potentially contaminated products: 6-pack multipacks of 19-gram single-serve bags with best-before dates of August 1, August 8, and August 12; 190-gram bulk bags with an August 15 best-before date; and both 90-gram and 45-gram sized bags with a December 12 best-before date. In an official public notice posted to its website, FSA is urging all consumers who have purchased any of the affected batches to avoid consuming the product immediately. Instead, customers are instructed to return the snack to their original point of purchase to receive a full refund, no receipt required per most retail chains’ recall policies. For consumers who may have already eaten portions of the affected snack, FSA advises that anyone experiencing adverse health effects or unusual symptoms should contact a medical professional promptly for assessment. Rubber contamination in food products poses a choking hazard and can cause internal damage if consumed, making this recall a high-priority public safety alert. This recall comes as Australian food safety officials continue to ramp up checks for foreign material contamination across popular snack lines, following a small uptick in similar incidents over the past 12 months.

Australia’s ongoing battle against the highly pathogenic H5 bird flu strain has entered a worrying new phase, with two unprecedented developments that mark potential shifts in how the virus is spreading across the country. For months, all confirmed infections detected in Australia have been limited to migratory birds, which carry the virus along their intercontinental flight paths. That boundary has now been broken, public health and agricultural officials confirmed Friday.

In South Australia, authorities have announced the first confirmed case of the deadly strain in a native Australian seabird. The infected animal, a greater crested tern, was found dead at the Robe Marina earlier this week. It was collected for testing the same day it was discovered, and laboratory results returned Friday morning confirmed the presence of the H5 strain. Two additional confirmed cases in native giant petrels, found at Emu Bay and Port Vincent respectively, were also finalized Friday.

Clare Scriven, South Australia’s primary industries minister, sought to reassure the public that the detection does not yet signal widespread community spread of the virus to native bird populations. “Importantly, while this is the first confirmed detection in an Australian seabird, it is being treated as an isolated incident,” Scriven said. She added that critically, there have still been no detections of the virus in commercial or domestic poultry flocks, and no recorded signs of mass mortality events across any wild bird populations anywhere in the country.

Alongside the first native bird detections, a second unprecedented development is now being investigated in New South Wales, where tests are underway on a dead New Zealand fur seal that could become the first confirmed case of bird flu in a mammal on the Australian mainland. While seals have already been recorded as susceptible to the virus—with hundreds of elephant seals killed by an outbreak on Australia’s remote sub-Antarctic Heard and McDonald Islands in recent months—any confirmed case on the mainland would mark a new expansion of the virus’s reach into non-avian wildlife on Australia’s populated coast.

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins told reporters Friday that the total number of confirmed bird flu detections across Australia now stands at 12. She described the discovery of the infected tern as a “concerning development”, noting that greater crested terns are coastal seabirds whose range overlaps with the migratory seabirds that have previously tested positive for the H5 strain along Australia’s shorelines. Officials are continuing surveillance of coastal wildlife and monitoring for any further signs of spread, while maintaining biosecurity protocols to protect the nation’s poultry industry from what remains the most significant bird flu outbreak risk in Australia’s recent history.