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A pill to treat men with prostate cancer that's no longer stopped by low testosterone levels will be made available at an affordable price, the federal government says.

The drug Nubeqa, or darolutamide, will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from Monday.

The pill can be used by men who've got prostate cancer that hasn't spread but is castration-resistant - that is, symptoms continue to worsen, the cancer continues to grow or the antigen level increases, despite lowered testosterone levels from hormone therapy.

It normally costs more than $40,000 per year. With the subsidy, patients will pay up to $41.30 per script.

The medication works to starve cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow and divide, says manufacturer Bayer Australia.

"This medicine offers an earlier line of treatment, allowing doctors to treat prostate cancer that no longer responds to traditional testosterone-lowering treatment is likely to spread," said Associate Professor David Pook, a medical oncologist at Melbourne's Cabrini Hospital.

"We no longer need to wait until we can see cancer spots on CT scans and bone scans before we initiate treatment.

"We now have the option to act earlier with the goal of delaying the spread of prostate cancer."

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in Australian men and the third most common cause of cancer death.

It's more common in older men.

Early detection and treatment can significantly improve prostate cancer survival, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

He encouraged men over 50 to learn the symptoms and talk to a GP if they have concerns.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia CEO Professor Jeff Dunn said listing Nobeqa would give more men with the deadliest forms of prostate cancer a greater chance of survival.

"This is an important moment for Australian men and families facing prostate cancer and the first time in seven years we've seen a new medicine listed on the PBS for the treatment of prostate cancer," he said.

The pill could help delay the spread of the disease for close to three and a half years - more than twice as long as hormone therapy on its own.

Data from clinical trials showed it lowered the risk of death by 31 per cent compared to hormone therapy alone, Prof Dunne said.

© AAP 2021

Forty years after he penned his call-to-action about the "over-corporatisation" of Australia in his iconic anthem Down Under, songwriter Colin Hay says not enough has changed.

The self-confessed "tree hugger from way back", who wrote the song for his erstwhile band Men at Work, says in the generation that has passed, the problems have only intensified.

"There's a great unconsciousness about the fact there is a whole continent and 20 odd million people get to run it and to be in it and to look after it, and I don't think we're doing a particularly good job," Hay told AAP.

"Its about being good caretakers of the country, which I don't think we are."

Over four decades, Down Under has become synonymous with true blue culture. As Aussie as Vegemite.

The global number one became an anthem for Australia's 1983 America's Cup win, was used in Crocodile Dundee II and was sung at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 - not to mention arm-in-arm in bars around the world.

Not bad for a song that only took Hay 40 minutes to write.

"Those 40 minutes have looked after me for the last 40 years," Scottish-born Hay laughs.

But while the video and verses are a quirky, satirical take of a larger-than-life Aussie travelling abroad, to Hay the the song was really about his fear of "the man".

"My fear was the corporate world, the conservative world I didn't want to belong to, and I still don't want to belong to," Hay says from his home in the Los Angeles mountains.

If he were writing it now, he would still be issuing the same call-to-action, he says.

"Things are a lot more time sensitive now ... they are getting to a tipping point," he says, adding world leaders are failing on issues like climate change.

"It makes me worry about the future - of not the planet so much but humanity's place in it."

When the global pandemic put the entertainment world on hold, Hay found an opportunity to revisit and reflect on songs from his past that held meaning for him.

What started as a sentimental trip down memory lane resulted in an album of covers that took Hay on a personal journey.

"It was strangely emotional because I got to revisit those songs and what they meant to me - not only now but what they meant to me then," he says.

"You have these emotions stored away inside and you're unaware that they'll be released when you revisit those songs. It's an interesting process."

The album includes Hay's versions of The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset, The Beatles' Norwegian Wood and the title track I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself, originally sung by Dusty Springfield.

An eclectic mix, not meticulously curated but simply songs that sprang into his head, he says. His emotional connection to them is felt throughout.

No surprise, then, that his connection to Down Under is felt so much deeper.

"It really is like an old pal," he says.

"And 40 is a good number."

© AAP 2021

Australian entertainment legend Bert Newton has died aged 83.

The four-time gold Logie award-winning entertainer, who had a leg amputated in May this year due to a life-threatening infection, died on Saturday at a private clinic in Melbourne.

His widow Patti has accepted a Victorian government offer of a state funeral.

The Nine Network, with which Newton - affectionately known as Moonface - was longest associated, confirmed the news of his death, sparking a widespread response from high-profile entertainers and politicians.

"Australian TV wouldn't be what it is without Bert," comedian Adam Hills tweeted.

"It's up to us all to take what he taught us, and keep his spirit alive."

Fellow comedian Rove McManus said in a tweet he was heartbroken.

"I don't know that I'm ready to accept this yet. Today I lost a mentor and friend, our country lost an icon, but most importantly a family has lost their hero and soul mate," McManus said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said overnight from the G20 summit in Rome Newton had invited himself into Australian living rooms during a golden era of television when everyone seemed to watch the same thing at the same time.

"And he was such a welcome guest," he said.

"Every time he came into our living rooms, we always looked forward to coming back.

"He had a great sense of humour and he understood, probably better than most, self-deprecating humour, which is a real Australian trait. He had it down to a tee."

Melbourne-born Newton started in the radio business aged 12 and scaled the heights of Australian entertainment on stage and screen.

Alongside Graham Kennedy and Don Lane he was part of a trio known as the kings of Australian television.

His TV credits include In Melbourne Tonight, The Graham Kennedy Show, The Don Lane Show, Good Morning Australia, New Faces, Bert's Family Feud and 20 to 1.

On stage he played roles in the musicals Wicked, Annie, Grease and as narrator in The Rocky Horror Show.

"Bert Newton was a giant of our industry, entertaining generations of Australians across our television screens," Nine's director of television Michael Healy said in a statement.

"He brought unbridled joy and laughter into our homes as part of so many programs, partnerships and formats."

Newton is survived by Patti, his wife of more than 46 years, children Lauren and Matthew, and grandchildren.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese said Australia had "lost an icon".

"My heart goes out to his family who have lost a husband, a father and friend," he tweeted.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described Newton as "an icon, a larrikin and a born entertainer".

"We have never known TV without Bert," he said.

"He was there from the beginning. From black and white to colour, as TV changed, Bert endured."

Mr Andrews said Newton's memory, talent and achievements would be honoured at a state funeral, with details to be shared in the coming days.

© AAP 2021