After 24-year-old Imaan Ahmad found out she was a close contact, she tried to get her hands on a rapid antigen test near her home in southwest Sydney.
After what she said was an "exhausting struggle", she managed to find a local pharmacy that charged her $20 for a single RAT - a price that has been upped since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The price of rapid antigen tests is soaring across the country as people continue to struggle to find available stock at their local stores.
and, as thousands wait in queues to receive a PCR test, rapid antigen tests (RATs) are becoming harder to come by every day.
"My family and I called almost every pharmacy in our surrounding area with no luck ... it was incredibly difficult," she told SBS News.
Members of the public queue in their cars for a COVID-19 PCR test at Sydney drive-through clinic. Source: AAP
Prices for RATs vary depending on the manufacturer as well as the retailers' fluctuating costs, but customers have told SBS News they have seen prices double since the national outbreak exploded before the Christmas period.
"I needed them as soon as possible, so I didn't mind coughing up $140 for seven tests, one for each family member in my house," she said.
When Ms Ahmad realised the RATs were hard to come by, she resorted to making an online pre-order for $50, the price she had seen on shelves before New South Wales' staggering COVID-19 outbreak.
"These RATs should have been subsidised before the outbreak got this bad," Ms Ahmad said.
Thousands of Australians are facing the same problem, forced to pay any price put to them in sheer desperation of receiving a RAT to have an indication of whether they are a case or not.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) have criticised the federal government after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said for the distribution of rapid antigen testing.
“Right now, a single test can cost up to $20, if you’re lucky enough to find a chemist that still has them. That’s $100 for a family of five," ACTU president Michele O'Neil said.
"That might be small change to the Prime Minister, but it’s out of reach for many families."
OzSAGE, an Australian multidisciplinary network of scientists, has also called on the government to alleviate the pressures on families who, like Ms Ahmad, will fork out payments to self-manage the virus at home.
"There is a severe shortage of RATs nationwide. This means even people who can afford them and could relieve the pressure on the laboratories, simply cannot buy a RAT kit," the OzSAGE statement said.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which represents 75 per cent of the country’s 6,000 community pharmacists, warned the issue is not just about the price - it's also about the kits being readily available for the entire country.
With states and territories bearing the responsibility themselves, it has left pharmacists in a difficult situation, national president Trent Twomey said.
"Divergent actions by different states and territories have meant community pharmacists are operating with one hand tied behind the back not knowing how many kits to order or when they will be supplied to us," he told SBS News.
An urgent national cabinet meeting convened on Thursday with premiers and chief ministers joining together to discuss the issue of rapid antigen tests, as well as formally implementing a nationalised definition of close contacts.
While Professor Twomey was hopeful national cabinet would come back with a collective response, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stayed staunch in his stance: the responsibility of rapid antigen tests rests primarily with the states and territories and will not be freely available.
"What is important is [private markets] have the certainty that they know that governments aren't all of a sudden going to go round and start providing these [RATs] free to anybody and everybody," he told reporters.
"And what I am being very clear about them today is the governments of Australia - Commonwealth, state and federal - are not going to do that. We will be providing them only where it is recommended to us that they need to be provided."
Circumstances where the RATs will be free include where a person has been deemed a close contact, for those who work in high-risk settings and for schools in the new year.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference following a national cabinet meeting. Source: AAP
"Otherwise, people can go get those [RATs] in the private market," he said.
The price hike has garnered fears private industries will engage in price gouging in a bid to profiteer off the general public's need.
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation's CEO Sandro Demaio said it was "absolutely shameful" that private markets were profiting off the RATs.
"For those who are price-gouging rapid tests - you should be deeply ashamed. Not just profiting, but taking advantage of communities and families during an emergency," Dr Demaio said on Twitter.
But federal Health Minister Greg Hunt reassured that the government will act on any claims of price gouging if it comes to their attention.
"We will have a discussion with the suppliers to make sure that there’s no price gouging and if there were ... we will take strong, clear, swift action," he told reporters in Melbourne.
New South Wales was the first state to announce last week it has purchased 50 million RATs to distribute for free, which is set to occur in late January.
Victoria soon followed suit, ordering 34 million tests and will be handing them out by next week.
Victoria's health minister Martin Foley said his state was forced to take on the burden after the federal government fell short of shouldering the responsibility for RATs.
"We would much prefer a national approach … failing that, as per usual the states have had to step up.”
Details on how NSW and Victoria are scheduled to provide the free RATs are yet to be revealed.
