Taking PBS medicines overseas: the rules for a long stay

Can I take my PBS medicines overseas?

Yes, for your own use or for someone travelling with you. Services Australia says it’s illegal to take or send PBS medicines overseas for anyone else, family included.

Situation	Allowed?
Taking your own PBS medicines for your trip	Yes, for your personal use
Taking PBS medicines for your partner who travels with you	Yes
Taking them for family or friends already overseas	No
Asking someone to post or courier your PBS medicines to you after you leave	No
Posting your own medicines ahead of you, to arrive while you are travelling	Only in strict cases, with paperwork
Sending non-PBS medicines overseas	Possibly, depending on Australian export laws and the other country’s import laws

The fine was updated in February 2026. Services Australia says that if you illegally take or send PBS medicines overseas, you risk a fine of up to $16,500, 2 years in jail, or both. A kind favour for a relative overseas is exactly the case the law covers.

How much medicine can I take overseas?

Enough for your trip, and no more than the law allows. Services Australia doesn’t give a single number. It says to take only enough to cover your trip, subject to PBS rules, your prescriber’s judgement, Australian export laws and the laws of the countries you visit.

Smartraveller also says to take enough for the length of your trip, and warns that local authorities could suspect you plan to sell it if you seem to be carrying a lot. For a long stay, ask your doctor how much is allowed and how to cover the gap if the trip outlasts your supply. Away more than 6 weeks? Your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled until you return, so fill scripts before you go.

What paperwork do I need?

A letter from your doctor, or a form. Services Australia lists these steps:

1. Check the medicine is legal in every country you visit, including countries you only pass through. Ask the embassy or consulate.
2. Get a letter from your doctor listing each medicine, its strength and your daily dose. Smartraveller adds that it should say the medicine is for your personal use.
3. If you can’t get a letter, print and fill in the Medicine Export Declaration form and carry it through customs.
4. Leave the medicine in its original packaging, labelled with your name and dose.

Some PBS medicines are prohibited exports, which means you can’t legally take them out of Australia at all. The Australian Border Force website lists prohibited goods.

Which medicines can cause trouble overseas?

Some common Australian medicines are restricted or illegal elsewhere. Smartraveller lists these as commonly restricted:

• amphetamines, such as ADHD medicines
• medical cannabis
• opioid painkillers, such as codeine
• medicines with pseudoephedrine, such as some cold and flu tablets
• sleeping pills
• anti-anxiety medicines and antidepressants.

If one of yours is on the list, ask your doctor about an alternative, and check whether you need a permit for your destination. Smartraveller warns you could be arrested or jailed for carrying or using drugs. Our page on retiring overseas with a health condition covers planning around ongoing treatment.

Can someone post my medicines to me while I’m overseas?

No. Services Australia says PBS medicines can’t be posted, taken, couriered or supplied to someone who is travelling or living overseas, even if they were dispensed before you left. Once you leave Australia, the PBS is closed to you.

A narrow rule does let you post your own PBS medicines overseas for your own use, with a doctor’s letter, the original pack and a customs declaration sticker from the post office. It doesn’t let anyone else send them to you later.

What if I run out of medicine overseas?

See a local doctor and ask them to prescribe what you need, taking the original packaging so they can see the dose and strength. You’ll pay the local price: Services Australia says medicines bought overseas are not subsidised by the PBS and are not eligible for PBS refunds. It says the cost may be lower in a country that has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia; our guide on Medicare overseas lists those countries.

Smartraveller warns that locally bought medicine can be poor quality or counterfeit. It also says most insurers won’t cover the cost of prescription medicine, even when the bag holding it is lost or stolen. Our guide to travel insurance for long stays has questions to ask about this. Carry some in a second bag in case one goes missing.

How does this look on a 3-month stay?

An example, not real people. Ray is 70 and takes three daily medicines: one for blood pressure, one for cholesterol and a sleeping tablet. He’s spending 11 weeks in Penang with his wife, Carol, on a winter away.

Step	What Ray does
8 weeks before	Sees his GP for a check-up, as Smartraveller suggests, and gets a letter listing all three medicines, their strength and daily dose.
Checks the rules	Contacts the Malaysian High Commission about the sleeping tablet, which is a commonly restricted type.
Before he flies	Fills his scripts in Australia, keeps everything in original packs and splits it across two bags.
In Penang	Carol’s cousin in Kuala Lumpur asks him to bring her blood pressure tablets from Australia. That would be illegal, so he says no.
Week 9	His sleeping tablets run low. He sees a local doctor with the original pack and pays the local price.

What this means for you depends on

• Which medicines you take, and whether any are restricted where you are going.
• How long you will be away, and how much your doctor can prescribe.
• Whether a partner or companion is travelling with you.
• Whether your destination has a reciprocal health care agreement.
• What your travel or health insurance covers for medicines.

This is general information. For your own medicines, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, or ring the PBS taking or sending medicine overseas line on 1800 500 147 (24 hours, 7 days). For the rest of your plans, book a free planning session on Zoom and we’ll point you in the right direction.