A study led by La Trobe University compared pharmacy ordering data from before and after the policy changes. It found that by mid-2025, 2,228 pharmacies stocked the medication before the reform, rising to 4,107 — an increase of 49 percent. The number of postcodes with a stocking pharmacy grew from 915 to 1,292, covering nearly half of all Australian postcodes.
Regional coverage rose from 23 percent to 35 percent of postcodes, while the proportion of stocking pharmacies in remote areas nearly doubled, from 12.5 percent to 22 percent.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s 2023 changes allowed any GP to prescribe MS-2 Step, which combines mifepristone and misoprostol, without requiring additional training or registration. The requirement for pharmacists to be registered to dispense the drug was also scrapped, and administrative hurdles were eased. Appropriately trained nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives became eligible prescribers.
Prof Kristina Edvardsson, the lead author from La Trobe University’s school of nursing and midwifery, said the findings showed that Australian women could now access the medication closer to home. “It removes the unnecessary travel and stress around getting the medication once it’s prescribed,” she said. “That’s super important, particularly for women who might be more disadvantaged, women living in rural, remote areas, and women who might not have the means to travel.”
Edvardsson noted that other studies have found improving access to MS-2 Step is safe and that when access increases, the need for surgical abortion decreases. MS-2 Step is available under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.