Is Mounjaro on the PBS?
No. Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is not on the PBS for diabetes, weight or sleep apnoea as of October 2026. The PBAC recommended it for type 2 diabetes in March 2026, but Eli Lilly turned down the government's price terms and stopped the listing process. Every Mounjaro script in Australia is therefore a private script.
What happened with the diabetes listing?
The PBAC recommended Mounjaro for adults with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes at its March 2026 meeting.1,2
In April 2026 Lilly called the government's price conditions “unrealistic and unviable”, newsGP reported, and put the number of people with type 2 diabetes affected at about 450,000.2 The PBS status page, updated on 30 September 2026, records that the company “is not proceeding in the PBS listing process at this time”.1 A recommendation alone doesn't list a medicine: the company and the government also have to agree on price, and that is where it stopped.2
Could Mounjaro be listed for weight loss?
Not on current signs: Lilly's Australian general manager told newsGP it was “difficult to see” how a listing for obesity could be secured.2
The PBAC's summary of GLP‑1 obesity treatments notes that tirzepatide has not been submitted to the PBS for obesity.3 Mounjaro's Australian label does cover weight management and moderate to severe sleep apnoea with obesity.4 Registration and PBS funding are separate steps, and the TGA says even evaluation “does not guarantee registration or Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) entry”.5
What does that mean for people with diabetes?
For type 2 diabetes, the PBS subsidises two other GLP‑1 medicines, Ozempic and Trulicity, when set criteria are met.6
The criteria include an HbA1c above 7% on metformin, a sulfonylurea or insulin, after an SGLT2 inhibitor didn't work, couldn't be used or wasn't tolerated. The first script needs an authority approval. They can't be PBS-subsidised alongside a DPP-4 or SGLT2 inhibitor, unless the SGLT2 inhibitor is for heart failure or kidney disease.7
A Mounjaro script is paid in full, though some extras policies pay part of the cost of non-PBS medicines.8 See How much is Mounjaro in Australia?
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Related questions
Sources
- PBS. Medicine status: tirzepatide (Mounjaro), type 2 diabetes, document 1609. Page last updated 30 Sep 2026. pbs.gov.au
- newsGP (RACGP). Mounjaro manufacturer rejects PBS recommendation, 28 Apr 2026. racgp.org.au
- PBS. PBAC advice: equitable access to GLP-1 obesity treatments. pbs.gov.au
- Eli Lilly. Mounjaro and Mounjaro KwikPen (tirzepatide) Australian Product Information, vA14.0, date of revision 2 Oct 2026, sections 2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.8, 6.4 to 6.6. Australian label. medsinfo.com.au (PDF)
- TGA. Prescription medicines under evaluation, page note. Page last updated 21 Sep 2026, checked 12 Oct 2026. tga.gov.au
- PBS. Restriction summary tables for type 2 diabetes medicines, 1 Apr 2025 (Attachment 3). pbs.gov.au (PDF)
- PBS. Type 2 diabetes pharmacotherapy diagram, at 1 Dec 2024. pbs.gov.au (PDF)
- privatehealth.gov.au (Commonwealth Ombudsman). What is covered: Medicare, the PBS and private health insurance. privatehealth.gov.au
Last checked 12 Oct 2026 · Next review due 12 Apr 2027 · Report an error
How this answer was made. Written by the GLP Guidebook team from the sources above, all checked on 12 Oct 2026. We don't publish medicine prices, and we don't name, rank or link to sellers or telehealth services. It's general information, not medical advice, and nothing here is an offer to supply any medicine. Talk to a GP, pharmacist or other qualified prescriber before starting, stopping or changing any medicine. How we write