If you’re scratching your head and saying ‘what e-prescribing trial?’, you’re not alone.
Here at The Medical Republic, we pride ourselves on – if not having a finger on the metaphorical pulse of GP-land – at least having a good idea of what’s going on.
When an article popped up this morning talking about the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s decision to abandon the trial of an electronic prescribing mandate, though, we were baffled.
According to the AMA, the DoHDA has officially abandoned a planned trial where e-prescribing would be the default mechanism for delivering scripts for certain medicines, and would instead focus on addressing the practical barriers preventing e-prescribing from becoming the norm across the entire system.
“Over the next 12 months, the department will prioritise improving Active Script List adoption, fixing prescription token management, resolving prescribing and dispensing workflow problems, and addressing usability concerns raised by clinicians and patients,” the AMA said.
But while the trial is off, the e-prescribing dream is by no means dead.
A DoHDA spokesperson told TMR that the government was “committed to the long-term policy objective of making electronic prescribing the standard prescribing method in Australia, while maintaining prescriber discretion to issue paper prescriptions where clinically necessary to support patient access and continuity of care”.
“Electronic prescribing by default replaced the earlier plan for mandatory electronic prescribing of high-risk and high-cost medicines announced in the 2023–24 Budget, following consideration of research findings and sector feedback,” they said.
“Over the coming 12 months, the Department is establishing the foundations required to support national implementation.
“Work includes improving the consumer experience, addressing key system dependencies and supporting sector readiness to support broader uptake of electronic prescribing.”
E-prescribing is already well accepted across the sector; an October 2025 blog post on the Australian Digital Health Agency’s website claimed that more than 370 million e-prescriptions had been generated since 2021. Uptake among pharmacies was already at 98% by mid-2021.
The only mention of an e-prescribing mandate on the department’s website is on a page last updated in July.
“Electronic prescribing by default replaces the earlier plan for mandatory electronic prescribing of high-risk and high-cost medicines announced in the 2023–24 Budget,” the webpage read.
“The new approach keeps the same goals – improving safety and increasing use – but is more flexible and better aligned with Australia’s digital health systems.
“Under this model, electronic prescriptions will become the standard way to prescribe medicines in Australia.
“Paper prescriptions will still be available when needed – for example, where you do not have access to a mobile device or if clinical safety requires a paper version.”
Related
A look at the 2023-24 budget papers confirmed the existence of a $111.8 million line item for infrastructure and services to support mandatory e-prescribing for high risk and high-cost medicines subsidised under the PBS.
Another document from 2023, the Digital Health Blueprint and Action Plan 2023-2033, contains slightly more detail, claiming that part of the $111.8m would go toward addressing “data quality issues that stem from paper-based or poorly structured, non-mandatory processes” as well as expanding e-prescribing use across public hospitals.
The money was meant to be spent over four years, with an additional commitment of $24.2 million per year ongoing.
There was no mention of electronic prescribing in the 2024-25 budget, but the 2025-26 budget did include $5.7 million to “extend funding to ensure sustainability of Australia’s electronic prescribing infrastructure”.
It’s perhaps not unusual for budget plans to change and for trials to never eventuate.
But with e-prescribing uptake already relatively high among patients, providers and dispensers, TMR might be forgiven for wondering what the government is doing here.
