Doctors will no longer have to make calls to get approval for prescribing certain medications under proposed new laws.
Legislation introduced to parliament on Thursday will allow for the full-automation of a number of administrative decisions in a bid to save time, reduce errors and make the process more efficient.
"For prescribers and patients, online pescribing approvals will return precious minutes lost to telephone calls back to consultation time," Health Minister Susan Ley said.
Around 6.8 million requests were made over the phone last financial year.
A majority of those requests will be able to be done online under the proposed measures, Ms Ley said.
The bill also aims to reduce red-tape for pharmacies in the aftermath of disasters such as fires and floods, and makes some technical changes to ensure people entitled to concessions under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Sceheme get them for life.
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