22Supply of pharmaceutical benefits before surrender of written prescription

#### 22 Supply of pharmaceutical benefits before surrender of written prescription (1) Subject to this regulation, a pharmaceutical benefit may be supplied to a person, in a case of urgency, by an approved pharmacist or an approved medical practitioner (the supplier) before the prescription for that pharmaceutical benefit is given to the supplier if: (a) a PBS prescriber advises the supplier of the details of the prescription; or (b) the PBS prescriber has given the supplier a copy of the prescription. (2) If the prescription is or would be an authority prescription, the supplier may supply the pharmaceutical benefit under subregulation (1) only if: (a) the Minister or the Chief Executive Medicare has notified the PBS prescriber (orally or by other means) that each relevant authorisation will be given; and (b) the PBS prescriber informs the supplier of that notification before the pharmaceutical benefit is supplied. (3) A PBS prescriber referred to in subregulation (1) must ensure that, for a paper‑based prescription, the original and a duplicate of the prescription are received by the relevant pharmacist or medical practitioner no later than 7 days after the day on which the benefit was supplied. Penalty: 0.2 penalty units. (3AA) A PBS prescriber referred to in subregulation (1) must ensure that, for an electronic prescription, the prescription is accessible by the relevant pharmacist or medical practitioner no later than 7 days after the day on which the benefit was supplied. Penalty: 0.2 penalty units. (3A) An offence against subregulation (3) or (3AA) is an offence of strict liability. > Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code. (4) A PBS prescriber who has communicated with an approved pharmacist or approved medical practitioner under subregulation (2) must ensure that, for a paper‑based prescription, the original and a duplicate of the prescription are received by the relevant pharmacist or medical practitioner no later than 7 days after the day on which the benefit was supplied. Penalty: 0.2 penalty units. (4AA) A PBS prescriber who has communicated with an approved pharmacist or approved medical practitioner under subregulation (2) must ensure that, for an electronic prescription, the prescription is accessible by the relevant pharmacist or medical practitioner no later than 7 days after the day on which the benefit was supplied. Penalty: 0.2 penalty units. (4A) An offence against subregulation (4) or (4AA) is an offence of strict liability. > Note: For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code. (5) This regulation does not apply to: (a) a pharmaceutical benefit if: (i) the pharmaceutical benefit would be supplied under this regulation by an approved pharmacist; and (ii) the relevant prescription must be in writing under a law in force in the State or Territory in which the premises, at or from which the pharmaceutical benefit would be supplied, are located; or (b) a pharmaceutical benefit if: (i) the pharmaceutical benefit would be supplied under this regulation by an approved medical practitioner; and (ii) the relevant prescription must be in writing under a law in force in the area in respect of which the medical practitioner is approved; or (c) in any case—a pharmaceutical benefit to be supplied on the basis of a medication chart prescription.