PSA

Yes. You can order the PSA test online from Clarity Labs without a GP referral. Not needing a referral is different from not needing the conversation. The 2026 Australian guidelines describe PSA testing as a choice a man makes after talking through the possible benefits and harms with his GP, so whether to test, and what a result means for you, are decisions to make with your GP. If you have urinary symptoms, see your GP instead of ordering a test yourself. It's $65, collected at any of 1,900+ NATA-accredited centres across Australia, with results in 3 to 5 business days via your secure online dashboard.

The PSA test is $65 at Clarity Labs, a one-off price with no subscription or membership. That covers your pathology request form and collection at any of 1,900+ NATA-accredited centres nationwide.

Symptoms are a reason to see your GP, not to order a test yourself, and that holds whatever a PSA result shows. Changes or problems with urinating can come from a non-cancerous enlarged prostate, and the 2026 Australian guidelines also describe them as the most common symptoms of prostate cancer. A PSA result cannot tell you which it is, and a result inside the reference interval does not rule a problem out. A GP can assess the symptoms and arrange the tests that fit, which may include a PSA. The guidelines' testing recommendations are written for men with no history or symptoms of prostate cancer.

Not for every man, and not automatically. Australia has no organised screening programme for prostate cancer, and the 2026 Australian guidelines, whose recommendations the NHMRC approved in May 2026, leave the choice with each man. They advise GPs to start a discussion with men from age 50, and with men at higher risk from age 45, about risk factors and the possible benefits and harms of testing, and they suggest GPs offer a PSA test every two years to men aged 50 to 69 who choose to test after that discussion. They do not propose routine testing for men aged 45 to 49 who are not at higher risk, and they suggest offering testing only to men whose life expectancy is greater than seven years, because in the trial that recommendation rests on, the benefit that trial found took six to seven years to appear. The guidelines set out both sides of that discussion. Some long-term trials of repeated PSA testing found a lower rate of death from prostate cancer, the guidelines note that trials have not consistently found a benefit, and a trial of a single PSA test found no clinically important difference. They also report that PSA testing has led to more biopsies and more diagnoses of low-risk cancers. Australian pathology guidance lists false positive results, overdiagnosis and treatments that cause long-term side effects among the possible harms, and the guidelines describe overdiagnosis as finding a prostate cancer that would not have caused symptoms or led to death during a man's natural lifetime. Whether to test is a decision to make with your GP.

There is no single age that suits every man, and it is a decision to make with your GP. None of the 2026 Australian guidelines' approved testing recommendations starts before age 45. The guidelines suggest GPs offer a PSA test every two years to men aged 50 to 69 who choose to test after talking through the possible benefits and harms, and propose the same from age 45 for men at higher risk. Their definition of higher risk includes men with a brother diagnosed with prostate cancer, a father diagnosed before 65, or two or more second-degree relatives who died of prostate cancer, Black men of sub-Saharan African ancestry, and men with a BRCA2 gene mutation. They also suggest counting a man as higher risk if his father was diagnosed at any age, and propose the same if two or more second-degree relatives were diagnosed. Other Australian guidance for men with a BRCA2 gene mutation differs from these guidelines and starts earlier, so it is worth raising with your GP or familial cancer service. The same recommendations apply to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. The guidelines do not propose routine testing for men aged 45 to 49 who are not at higher risk. They propose that a GP may offer a man of that age who is interested in his prostate health an initial test after the same discussion, and they say that if that result is less than 1.0 μg/L, no further PSA testing is recommended until age 50. That is advice to GPs about when to test again in men without symptoms. It is not an all-clear, and it does not apply to men at higher risk. From age 70 the guidelines base the decision on a clinical assessment that includes life expectancy and other health conditions. The proposals to offer testing to men under 50 and to men aged 70 and over are consensus recommendations, made where the guidelines found no trial evidence to base a protocol on.

A PSA result is read with your GP, against your age, your risk and the reference interval printed by the laboratory that ran the test. No PSA level is a diagnosis, and no PSA level is an all-clear. For men with no history or symptoms of prostate cancer, the 2026 Australian guidelines set levels at which they advise GPs to repeat the test within 1 to 3 months and, if the result is confirmed, to offer or consider referral for further investigation. Those levels are 1.0 μg/L or greater at ages 45 to 49, 3.0 μg/L or greater at ages 50 to 69, and 5.5 μg/L or greater at 70 and over. For men aged 50 to 69 whom the guidelines count as higher risk, for example a man with a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer, the level is 2.0 μg/L or greater. The 3.0 threshold comes from an evidence-based recommendation that the guidelines grade as conditional, and the others from expert consensus. These are guideline thresholds, not the laboratory's reference interval, so a result marked as normal on a report can still be at or above one of them, and the reverse can also happen. Below the threshold, the guidelines do not advise a repeat test or referral. The guidelines note that medicines called 5-alpha reductase inhibitors can lower PSA by up to 50%. The guidelines use μg/L, which is the same number as the ng/mL some reports show. The thresholds were approved in May 2026 and are due for review by 17 May 2028. Take your result to your GP, who arranges any repeat test.

Quite a lot. Australian pathology guidance says two-thirds of men who see their doctor with a high PSA have a non-cancerous condition, although the higher the level, the more likely cancer becomes. Benign prostate enlargement (BPH) and prostatitis, an inflamed prostate, can both raise PSA. Recent ejaculation and vigorous exercise can raise it for a short time, and a recent urinary tract infection can raise it as well. Some medicines lower it. The 2026 Australian guidelines note that 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, medicines used for an enlarged prostate and other conditions, can lower PSA by up to 50%, so any medicines you take are worth mentioning to your GP when you discuss the result.

Results are typically available in 3 to 5 business days via your dashboard.