In March 2026, something extraordinary happened for Australians battling advanced cancers such as melanoma.
In a self-described ‘world first’, the Australian Government confirmed that the combination immunotherapy drugs Opdivo® (nivolumab) and Yervoy® (ipilimumab) will now be broadly listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for advanced or metastatic cancers, regardless of tumour type, provided a treating clinician believes the patient will benefit.
For the melanoma community, particularly those facing advanced or metastatic disease, the announcement is more than policy. It’s hope.
What’s changed?
Until now, nivolumab and ipilimumab were listed on the PBS for specific cancer types, including unresectable Stage III or IV melanoma. But many other patients, particularly those with rarer cancers, faced limited access unless their diagnosis fit within PBS’s strict categories.
Now it’s different.
As Minister for Health and Ageing, The Hon Mark Butler MP, said on Sunday, “[f]or the first time in the world, there will be a PBS reimbursement for this drug, this highly effective drug for every single cancer type, provided that the relevant clinician, a clinician like Professor Rachel Roberts-Thomson, is satisfied that the patient will respond to it.”
“This is going to benefit, we think, every year, more than 5,000 Australians who today are battling advanced cancer,” he added. “And without this PBS listing, they would be paying around $100,000 for a course of treatment.”
For families already grappling with a life-altering diagnosis, removing a potential $100k price tag for potentially life-altering treatment is, well, life-changing.
What is immunotherapy?
Why immunotherapy matters in melanoma
Over the past decade, immunotherapy has completely reshaped the melanoma treatment landscape. Unlike chemotherapy, which directly attacks cancer cells, immunotherapy works by helping the body’s own immune system recognise and destroy cancer.
As Professor Rachel Roberts-Thomson explained:
“More patients will be able to access immunotherapy, which is a treatment that empowers or emboldens the body’s immune system to go and find and hopefully destroy cancer cells.”
This broader ‘tumour agnostic’ approach means treatment decisions can now focus on how the cancer behaves biologically and not simply where it started.
For melanoma patients, including those with ocular melanoma or metastatic disease, this opens new doors.
The financial toxicity of cancer
At Beat Melanoma, we often speak about the emotional, physical, and psychological toll of melanoma. But there’s another massive burden shouldered by melanoma patients that doesn’t get talked about enough: the financial one.
It was a devastating reality that Neil Evans himself recognised even as he bravely fought his own disease. Being at the top of his career and able to afford all the options available to him, he questioned how he would feel knowing that treatments were available but not being able to pay for them.
Christine Cockburn, CEO of Rare Cancers Australia, captured the impact of the new PBS inclusions:
“What this means in the real world today is that when a clinician would like to prescribe these immunotherapies to the patient sitting in front of them, they can tell them that they have an immunotherapy that will work in their own systems.
“[Now, they] don’t have to have the next conversation, which up until today was, ‘and you’ll have to find tens of thousands of dollars to access it, I’m really sorry’.”
For many families, that second conversation meant draining savings, delaying retirement, or launching crowdfunding campaigns, a feeling Josh Galpin knows all too well.
Diagnosed in 2019 with metastatic melanoma, immunotherapy offered Josh hope, but at an enormous cost. His parents delayed retirement. His local community crowdfunded his treatment.
Today, he has no detectable tumours.
Reflecting on what these new PBS listing mean for future patients, Josh said:
“I don’t think the future patients that will receive this treatment will ever understand the true benefit and not having to deal with the financial strain that comes along with this cancer.”
A new chapter for melanoma care
Australia already has one of the highest melanoma rates in the world. And while advances in early detection and treatment have improved dramatically over the past 20 years, this PBS expansion represents another powerful step forward in potential outcomes for patients.
At Beat Melanoma, we welcome this landmark decision. It reinforces what we believe deeply: that access to life-saving treatment should not depend on your postcode or your bank balance.
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