How Can I get an Insulin Pump in Australia?

There are a range of insulin pumps available in Australia. When transitioning to an insulin pump, consult with a diabetes specialist¹ (endocrinologist, credentialled diabetes educator (CDE), nurse practitioner) to assist you with this transition. Access requires specialist support to ensure you achieve the best possible outcomes.

Insulin Pump² order forms are available from your chosen insulin pump supplier for your diabetes educator or endocrinologist to fill out. The insulin pump order form should be accompanied by a Letter of Clinical Need signed by your diabetes specialist healthcare professional (Diabetes Nurse Practitioner or Endocrinologist). Your chosen insulin pump supplier can assist you in navigating this process.

The cost of insulin pumps or insulin pump consumables in Australia is not covered by Medicare. Instead, Insulin Pumps are available either through Private Health Insurance or are privately funded. Alternatively, the Australian Federal Government's Insulin Pump Program³ provides access to subsidised insulin pumps for eligible individuals aged under 21 years with type 1 diabetes who meet specific criteria. This program, administered by the JDRF, aims to improve the quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes by providing access to advanced diabetes management technology.

Access to partially subsidised insulin pump consumables in Australia via the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS⁴) is currently restricted to people with type 1 diabetes.

If you have private health insurance your hospital policy may cover some or all of the cost of an insulin pump⁵. Please check with your individual insurer for details and to see if you are covered. A waiting period may apply before private health insurance benefits are payable.

Some people prefer to pay for their insulin pumps themselves and not via private health insurance⁶. The Omnipod DASH® Insulin Management System is also available via a no lock in subscription⁶ giving access to the pump for the time it takes to use a box of consumables (usually a month). Insulin pumps can cost between $7,000 to $10,000⁷, not including monthly consumables, to purchase outright.

An HCL system has three components: an insulin pump, a CGM and an algorithm which adjusts how much insulin the pump delivers based on the CGM data. The pump, CGM sensor, and algorithm all need to be able to ‘talk’ to each other to make an HCL system. See the ‘Next Steps’ section below for tips on talking with your diabetes specialist team if you are interested in an HCL system.

Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) or Hybrid Closed-Loop (HCL) systems automatically adjust insulin delivery to help control blood glucose levels, reduce hypoglycaemia, and increase time in range⁹. AID systems are often called hybrid closed loop systems and allow for a complete circle of communication between a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and insulin pump.

AID systems create a circle of constant communication between your diabetes devices, creating a hybrid closed loop.

Generally, every 5 minutes:

• The CGM reports your glucose levels to the insulin pump.
• The insulin pump then adjusts its insulin delivery using an insulin control algorithm. The algorithm software is the “brains” of the system, that crunches the numbers to predict where glucose levels are heading and tells the pump what to do. 
• The CGM picks up on any changes to your glucose level, reports that to the insulin pump, and so on.

With AID systems, users still need to bolus for meals.

AID systems can lessen the burden of managing your diabetes¹⁰, helping you feel free from having to think about manually controlling it around the clock, especially during times of increased hypoglycaemia risk.