Posted by Michael Wonder on 21 Feb 2026
Do children get priority in Australia's drug funding decisions?
20 February 2026 - In Australia, the PBAC recommends which medicines should be subsidised through the PBS.
When making these decisions, the PBAC considers many factors, including clinical evidence, cost effectiveness, and broader social values. Age is listed as one of the “less-readily quantifiable factors” that may influence decisions, but it has never been clear whether children’s treatments are actually given priority.
This study examined almost 20 years of PBAC decisions (2005-2023), covering more than 1,400 funding applications from pharmaceutical companies seeking public subsidy for their medicines. For each submission, the researchers analysed the committee's decision and key features of the evidence: how well the medicine works, its costs relative to its benefits, and how certain the committee was about the results.
