Any official crackdown on price-gouging of rapid antigen tests in Australia is unlikely, despite government suggestions it will get the consumer watchdog involved amid reports the kits have doubled in price as stock disappears from shelves.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in which he announced national cabinet would convene on Thursday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, pushed back against calls from unions and business groups for the commonwealth to source and distribute rapid tests for free to people across the nation.
With some Australians waiting several hours to get a free PCR test and several days to get the result, demand for rapid antigen tests has grown dramatically and prices have risen in turn.
Some consumers claimed one retailer appeared to be selling the same five-test kit online for $90 on Wednesday, up from about $45 last week.
Asked if was there anything to stop retailers gouging prices, Morrison appeared to suggest the consumer watchdog could address the issue.
Some manufacturers warned in October, a month before rapid tests became available in chemists, that Australia was likely to face price hikes due to a supply crunch.
The Pharmacy Guild also said this week that limited supply and supply chain costs could lead to higher prices for consumers.
Amid the consumer complaints of increased prices, some observers pointed to an obscure New South Wales law, repealed in 2019, that a former state fair trading commissioner has said could have prevented price gouging during the pandemic. The state government has previously disputed the claim.
Meanwhile, Victoria became the second state pledging to distribute free rapid antigen tests. The health minister, Martin Foley, announced on Wednesday had bought 34m tests and hoped to start handing them out next week, joining NSW which has now ordered 50m and will distribute them from the end of January.
But he said the government would commit another $375m to buy further rapid tests for the national stockpile, which might be drawn on to meet gaps at the state level.
Social service and disability groups have become increasingly concerned that the cost of rapid antigen tests were prohibitive for those on low incomes, including people living with disabilities and elderly people.
A pack of five tests would represent 15% of the weekly income of a person on the base rate of the jobseeker payment.
President of peak body People With Disability Australia, Samantha Connor, said the federal government should step in to provide rapid tests.
Connor said there was also mass confusion about whether national disability insurance scheme participants could use their funding to buy rapid antigen tests.
A spokesperson for the national disability insurance agency said people in NDIS-funded supported independent living accommodation (SIL) and their providers could claim $12.50 per rapid test. There are about 25,000 SIL participants, but nearly 500,000 people in the NDIS.
Some people with disability have also been forced to turn to charities and other mutual aid organisations.
The Disability Justice Network, a small grassroots group led by disabled people, said it had provided $2,000 to help people pay for rapid tests since placing a call out online a week and a half ago.
