February 2026
News
In this issue
| February 2026 – Risperdal Item Deletions |
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| Emergency Authority Code Setting in Fred Dispense |
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| Is your NASH certificate expiring soon? |
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| This Month's PBS Changes |
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February 2026 – Risperdal Item Deletions
The following item codes for Risperdal 500mcg (20 pack) have been delisted from PBS as of 1 February 2026:
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11872W RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 20 (Risperdal) – PBS Max Qty 60
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11873X RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 20 (Risperdal) – PBS Max Qty 60
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1842Y RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 20 (Risperdal) – PBS Max Qty 60
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1846E RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 20 (Risperdal) – PBS Max Qty 60
The Department of Health and Aging have advised that prescriptions for these item codes written prior to 1st of February will be valid for claiming against the 60 pack item codes:
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11869Q RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 60 - PBS Max Qty 60
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11881H RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 60 - PBS Max Qty 60
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8787L RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram tablet, 60 - PBS Max Qty 60
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8869T RISPERIDONE, risperidone 500 microgram table, 60 - PBS Max Qty 60
Patients will not be required to obtain new prescriptions from the prescriber.
As the codes for the 20 pack have been delisted from the PBS from the 1st of Feb, substitution between item codes will not be available in Fred Dispense via the usual ‘GS’ shortcut.
Instead, users will have to manually search and select the item codes/brands for the 60 pack manually when presented with scripts or repeats for the 20-pack date prior to 1st February 2026.
Please see below for the inter-substitutable item codes:
|
20 pack |
60 pack |
|---|---|
|
11872W |
11869Q |
|
11873X |
11881H |
|
1842Y |
8787L |
|
1846E |
8869T |
Emergency Authority Code Setting in Fred Dispense
A new option is available in Setup > Dispense Options that lets you manage your Emergency Authority Code directly.
Configure the emergency authority code
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In Setup > Dispense Options, locate the setting Set emergency authority code and enter the new authority code.
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Click Save.
Dispense an item that requires an emergency authority code
When dispensing items that require an emergency authority code, you will see the following prompt. The checkbox will contain the code that you configured above.
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Select the checkbox to enable the emergency authority code.
The system will populate the current code automatically into the field.
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You will also need to enter an Authority Number—for example, 123.
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Click Yes.
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Continue dispensing as usual.
Is your NASH certificate expiring soon?
The NASH certificate expires every two years and needs to be manually renewed on PRODA then uploaded into Fred Connect.
The NASH certificate is required to ensure HI Services, MySL and MyHR continue to be operational.
If your NASH certificate is about to expire, you will receive an email from Fred IT with instructions on how to renew and upload it.
How to check your NASH certificate expiry
To check the expiry of your most current NASH certificate, follow these steps:
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Open Fred Connect.
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Select the Plugins tab.
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Select the eRx config tab, then click the eRx Adapter Configuration button.
The window that pops up shows you your certificates and their expiry dates.
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Make sure that the certificate that starts with "general" is selected. If it is not selected, then select it and click Next to make sure you are using the most current certificate.
For more information on updating your NASH certificate, see NASH Certificate.
This Month's PBS Changes
For the full Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits, go to the PBS website at http://www.pbs.gov.au/ where you can search the schedule by drug name.
For your convenience, we've also uploaded a printable summary of this month's important PBS changes to this site.
The next edition of the PBS Summary of Changes will be published here on 1 February.
For Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD) items (CAR and non-CAR), please refer to the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits as well as Services Australia to confirm whether the PBS item code for a HSD is eligible to be dispensed and claimed by your pharmacy type.