As of Thursday, the public will have to make a visit to their local GP before purchasing painkillers, with products such as codeine, panadeine and nurofen plus being taken off shelves.
The move from shelf to behind the counter was part of a decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in a bid to stop codeine addiction and misuse.
Research published in the Medical Journal of Australia found the rate of codeine-related deaths in Australia more than doubled between 2000 to 2009.