How to get your Medicinal Cannabis License in Australia

Marijuana is as popular as ever in Australia. However, access to medical cannabis remains an arduous process for patients. Enrollment in Australia’s medical marijuana program is growing yearly. As Australians increasingly engage with medical cannabis, interest in Australian cannabis cultivation is growing. Continue reading for a comprehensive guide to help you become a licensed cannabis producer in Australia.

While the regulation of medical marijuana in Australia is rigorous, it is harmonized with Canada's legal standards. Canadians looking to import cannabis to Australia have a clearly defined legal pathway to do so. It also paves the road for collaboration with cannabis cultivation solutions.

In Australia, medicinal cannabis is not considered first-line therapy for any symptom or illness. One must meet the required criteria and must have attempted other treatments before trying medical marijuana. There are exceptions to this, notably for palliative care. Other qualifying conditions include:

• Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
• Chronic pain
• Multiple sclerosis
• Epilepsy

Australia also restricts access to medical cannabis for patients who have risk factors and contraindications. "Cannabis products containing THC are generally not appropriate for patients who:

• Have a previous psychotic or concurrent active mood or anxiety disorder;
• Are pregnant, planning on becoming pregnant, or breastfeeding; and/or
• Have unstable cardiovascular disease.”

Guidance for the use of medicinal cannabis in Australia: Overview

The Australian Department of Health sets out highly structured guidances and prescribing guidelines. The Department of Health’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) oversees the use and prescribing of medical marijuana and governs its regulation.

“The TGA is responsible for ensuring that therapeutic goods available for supply in Australia are safe and fit for their intended purpose. The TGA administers the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 which establishes the regulatory framework for all medicines in Australia.

The Act provides a number of processes that provide access to unapproved therapeutic goods. For medicinal cannabis products, these include access through:

Authorised Prescriber Scheme (AP)

Special Access Scheme (SAS)

Clinical Trials

While there are additional legal requirements that must be met before medicinal cannabis products can be imported and supplied through these schemes, they do provide a pathway for access to these medicines.

Access to medicinal cannabis products (2020, June 2).

How to Apply for a Medicinal Cannabis License

The Department of Health and Aged Care, Office of Drug Control is the agency that handles medical cannabis licensing in Australia. As per the Narcotic Drugs Act of 1967, the government has created a licensing and permitting scheme to regulate the cultivation of cannabis plants, production of cannabis, manufacture of cannabis drugs, and any activities other related activities.

However, once an applicant successfully receives their Medical Cannabis License in Australia, they are licensed to do any of the below:

• Cultivation: Growing of cannabis plants
• Production: Separation of cannabis, and cannabis resign
• Manufacture: Transforming cannabis, and cannabis resign into a cannabis drug or extract

It's important to note that once an applicant is licensed, they will still need to apply for an appropriate permit from the Office of Drug Control (ODC), see below.

Application Methods

There are two ways to apply for the Medicinal Cannabis License in Australia:

1. Apply Online
2. Submit a paper application. Although paper applications are only accepted in rare cases, and applicants must contact MCS.application@health.gov.au if they wish to apply using this method.

Cannabis Permit Information

Once applicants have successfully acquired their Medicinal Cannabis License in Australia, the next step is to apply for the appropriate permit, so that they can begin their business operations.

Permit for Cannabis Cultivation and Production

Applicants who intend to do cultivation, and/or production will need to apply for a Medicinal Cannabis Permit allowing them to conduct those respective operations. To learn more, download the application form, and rely on this handy guide in order to create a successful application. 

It's important to note that Australian cannabis cultivators and producers are required to submit quarterly reports to the ODC, in order to keep their permit in good-standing. Here is the reporting template for the quarterly reports, guidance from the ODC on how to complete the reports.

Permit for Cannabis Manufacturing

Similar to the Cultivation and Production permit, applicants can download a copy of the application form, and consult with the handy guide that the Office of Drug Control put together.

The TGA explains that there are many standards and regulations that apply to medicinal cannabis products, including Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Medicinal Cannabis) (TGO 93) Order 2017 and Therapeutic Goods (Microbiological Standards for Medicines)(TGO 100) Order 2018 , along with the Poison Standards

Australian medical cannabis manufacturers are required to obtain a licence to manufacture medicinal cannabis products (sometimes referred to as GMP licence), except in cases where they are exempted in Schedule 7 or Schedule 8 of the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990. Specifically, these manufacturing requirements apply to Australian medical cannabis products that are on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) and unapproved products lists.

The applicable Australian standard for manufacturing medical marijuana products is the Code of GMP. For which the TGA has also published specific guidance on GMP compliance for the manufacture of medicinal cannabis products that applies to unapproved cannabis products supplied under 'approved access' provisions.

The Australian GMP for medical cannabis is similar to the GPP cannabis requirements of Health Canada, the US GMP for pharmaceuticals, or to EU GMP for botanical drugs. This is notable because the TGA uses internationally harmonized manufacturing standards. They want to allow manufacturers to operate in an international environment when it comes to medicine, including cannabis.

Those seeking to import cannabis to Australia need to have evidence of acceptable GMP in the form of a GMP clearance in their country that is equivalent to the Australian GMP standard. Oversees cannabis producers can apply to obtain Australian GMP clearances.

Australia has another pathway for importing cannabis from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Israel. Their regulations note that these specific countries have equivalent manufacturing regulation standards for cannabis products that are not on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

When it comes to exporting and importing cannabis to Australia, the Australian sponsor must ensure that the oversees company also complies with Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Medicinal Cannabis) (TGO 93) Order 2017 and Therapeutic Goods (Microbiological Standards for Medicines) (TGO 100) Order 2018.

Whether you are looking to become a cannabis cultivator in Australia, or are interested in importing cannabis materials, it is important to understand how marijuana is and isn’t legal in Australia. Cannabis is only legal with a prescription and when grown in accordance to strict laws.

Federally, cannabis is a Schedule 8 Controlled Drug with a prescription or a Schedule 9 Prohibited Substance without prescription in Australia. Each state/territory has its own variations and laws about how people can access and produce controlled drugs and prohibited substances.

“...State and Territory Governments classify the vast majority of medicines and poisons in accordance with the Poisons Standard (also known as the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP)) to achieve a uniform national approach to the scheduling of substances and uniform labelling and packaging requirements.” Contacts for State/Territory medicines & poisons regulation units Scheduling medicines & poisons18 February 2020.

Cannabis and cannabinoids are scheduled two ways in Australia:

Schedule 8 Controlled Drugs include Cannabis (including seeds, extracts, resins and the plant or any part of the plant) and tetrahydrocannabinol (when extracted from cannabis) when prepared or packed for human therapeutic use (may also be considered Schedule 9 Prohibited Substance).

Schedule 4 Prescription Only Medicines include cannabidiol (CBD) when the cannabinoids component in the preparation for therapeutic use contains at least 98% cannabidiol and 2% or less of other cannabinoids found in cannabis.

“In mammals the median lethal dose of THC has been estimated to be >800mg/kg. CBD appears to be of very low toxicity. Doses of 1000mg/kg CBD appear to have been tolerated safely in humans.” - Australian Government Department of Health; Therapeutic Goods Administration, overseeing body of the use and prescribing of medical marijuana.

With excitement in Canada, as the Trade Commission offers support to companies looking to expand internationally, Australia could be a good partner. With Canadian GPP regulations being favorable to Australian regulators, existing practices, products, and services could feasibly be expanded to Australia. One thing is certain: cannabis-oriented Canadians are interested in supporting the Australian industry, and Australia seems to offer a pathway to make it happen.

Australian Medical Cannabis Market is On Pace to Beat the Canadian Market

In the Australian market, cannabis can only be sold to people who are a part of the "Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B)" system, or received a prescription from an authorized professional, such as a Physician.

Taking a look at the chart below, the number of authorized prescribers has increased quickly year over year, since medical cannabis was legalized in 2016. It seems like the market has in-fact reached it's tipping point, as the number of authorized prescribers has grown by approximately 43% year over year.

It's estimated that Australians spent roughly $167 million USD on medical cannabis products in 2022. To contrast that, the Canadian medical cannabis market was worth roughly $302 million USD in 2022.

That being said, experts are expecting the number of authorized prescriber approvals in Australia to double within the next two years. That means that the Australian medical cannabis market may be on-par, if not larger than the Canadian market very soon.

Source

How to Get a Cannabis License in Other Countries

The fact that you found your way to this article is remarkable, we're sure that you're an ambitious grower. The oppourtunity in international trade does not end here. We have written guides on getting your cannabis license for more countries, such as Portugal, Germany, Mexico, and New Zealand. Check out our guides over here: How to get a Cannabis License in Portugal, How to Get a Cannabis License in Germany, How to Get a Cannabis License in Mexico, and How to get a Cannabis License in New Zealand.

GrowerIQ’s cannabis experts offer critical guidance and knowhow to help you learn about various marijuana industries and regulations. Our experts can help you create a successful international cannabis venture and strive within any legal framework. To learn more, get in touch with our professionals by completing the form below.

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