History of Cannabis in Australia

History and uses from the First Fleet to today. General info only—not legal advice. Laws differ by state/territory and change over time.

Quick Overview

Hemp and cannabis come from the same plant species (Cannabis sativa). Hemp is the very-low-THC type used for fibre, seed, and food. In everyday talk, “cannabis” usually means higher-THC varieties used as a drug or as prescribed medicine.

  • 1788–: Britain brought hemp seed and plans to trial flax/hemp in the new colony to reduce reliance on imported naval rope and sailcloth.

  • Late 1800s: Cannabis extracts appeared in pharmacies; hemp was common for rope, canvas, and sacks.

  • 1928–1959: States progressively prohibited cannabis (Victoria first; Tasmania last).

  • 2016: Medicinal cannabis legalised federally via doctor pathways.

  • 2017: Hemp seed foods legalised in Australia.

  • 2020: ACT introduced limited adult personal use and home-grow (strict limits; supply remains illegal).

  • Today: Medicinal cannabis is legal with a doctor’s approval. Adult recreational use is only partly decriminalised in the ACT. Driving with THC present remains an offence in most jurisdictions, including for prescribed patients.

Global & Colonial Origins

Ancient use: Historical records from China describe hemp as fibre, food, and medicine over millennia. Classical medical texts from South Asia discuss medicinal use, though details and interpretations vary. In the Near East, some philologists link the Assyrian term qunnabu to cannabis; the etymology remains debated. (See Endnotes for sources and caveats.)

British naval priorities: In the late 18th century, the Royal Navy relied heavily on Baltic/Russian hemp for rope and rigging. Concern about supply security helped motivate colonial trials of flax and hemp in the Pacific, including Norfolk Island.

Global Status Note: The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, a key international treaty, explicitly excluded cannabis seeds from its control measures. This effectively laid the groundwork for their global recognition as a non-narcotic agricultural product and food source.

Colonial Australia

(1788–1910)

  • 1788–1850s: Hemp & flax trials. Early NSW and Norfolk Island trials aimed to grow rope, canvas, and cloth locally. Crops could be grown, but processing was difficult and labour-intensive in a frontier colony.

  • Convict-era pharmacy. As in Britain, cannabis tinctures and extracts appeared in 19th-century pharmacy catalogues and the British Pharmacopoeia. Hemp fibre remained useful for rope, sacks, and canvas.

Prohibition Era

(1912–1961)

  • Treaty backdrop. The 1912 Hague Opium Convention began modern drug control but did not directly schedule cannabis. The 1925 Geneva International Opium Convention added controls on “Indian hemp” (resin trade, etc.). The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs consolidated global controls, including cannabis.

  • Australian bans by state:

    • Victoria (1928) was first to ban, followed by SA (1934), NSW (1935), Qld (1937), WA (1950), and Tas (1959). By the 1950s, cannabis was illegal nationwide except for limited medical/scientific use.

Counterculture & Reform

(1970s–2015)

  • Nimbin Aquarius Festival (1973): A landmark counter-culture gathering that seeded ongoing cannabis-law-reform activism in northern NSW.

  • MardiGrass (from 1993): An annual “protestival” that keeps reform on the agenda.

  • Industrial hemp comeback (1990s–2000s): States and territories created licensing schemes allowing low-THC hemp for fibre and seed.

  • Early civil-penalty models: South Australia (1987) introduced Cannabis Expiation Notices (CENs)—on-the-spot fines for minor personal-use offences. The ACT introduced the Simple Cannabis Offence Notice (SCON) scheme in 1992, allowing minor cannabis possession to be dealt with by a fine rather than criminal charges. This scheme operated until January 2020, when it was replaced by the Personal Cannabis Use Amendment Act 2019, which now allows limited adult possession and home-grow under strict conditions.

Legal & Medical Milestones

(2016–Today)

  • 2016: Federal medicinal cannabis framework. Amendments to the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 created licensing/permit schemes for cultivation, production, and manufacture for medicinal and scientific purposes. Access to products is via TGA pathways with doctor oversight.

  • 2017: Hemp seed foods. Food standards allowed low-THC hemp seed foods (e.g., dehulled seed, oil, flour, protein) for sale.

  • 2020: ACT personal use. The ACT became the first jurisdiction to allow limited adult possession and home-grow under strict rules. Supply/sale remain illegal; drug-driving laws still apply.

  • 2020–21: Low-dose CBD to Schedule 3. The TGA down-scheduled certain low-dose CBD to pharmacist-only when a product is fully registered; initially, no OTC products were registered.

Driving Policy: The Current Landscape & Reform Efforts

The Victorian law change allowing judicial discretion for medicinal cannabis patients is part of a national debate. Several advocacy groups and political parties are campaigning for a shift from "presence-based" roadside drug testing to an "impairment-based" system.

  • "Drive Change" Campaign: A key national campaign led by Harm Reduction Australia, which advocates for fair drug driving laws that don't penalise unimpaired medicinal cannabis patients. They argue that current laws are unscientific and impede public health outcomes.

  • Political Parties:

    • The Legalise Cannabis Party (LCP), with parliamentary representation in several states, has made changing driving laws a core policy, introducing bills to create a legal defence for patients who are not impaired.

    • The Greens also actively campaign for these reforms, having introduced bills in states like NSW and Queensland to allow a legal defence for medicinal cannabis patients. For more on their position, see the Greens NSW policy page.

  • State-Specific Action:

    • New South Wales: A parliamentary inquiry has been conducted into the issue, and a new bill has been introduced by the LCP to provide a legal defence.

    • Queensland: The Parliament has debated bills that would create a defence for medicinal cannabis patients, with the government acknowledging the need for a review of the current laws.

    • Western Australia: Following recommendations from a Parliamentary Select Committee, a Ministerial Working Group is now considering how to amend WA's driving laws to end the discrimination faced by medicinal cannabis patients.

Published Research & Data (Veterans' Mental Health)

#1

PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

  • Evidence Gap: The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and the RANZCP both note that high-quality clinical trial data for PTSD and other psychiatric conditions is limited. Despite widespread prescribing, robust veteran-specific trials are still missing, particularly for insomnia and sleep disturbance. TGA guidance (Nov 2024) still centres on epilepsy, overlooking these needs—yet epilepsy’s anti-kindling effects (reducing neural hyperexcitability) apply directly to PTSD’s trauma loops. For veterans, this gap leaves them trapped in “zombie” states from benzos, SSRIs and antipsychotics.

  • Promising Mechanisms: Research from the Lambert Initiative, University of Sydney, shows the endocannabinoid system (ECS) regulates mood, fear, and memory. Augmenting this system with cannabinoids may enhance fear extinction—overriding traumatic memories with safety memories. New data strengthens this: the QUEST Initiative (2025) tracked over 12 months and found sustained gains in quality of life, fatigue, sleep, and mood with medicinal cannabis, including in mental health patients. Another 2025 study confirmed cannabis improved sleep in insomnia sufferers, even where conventional aids failed. (Mixed findings remain: THC/CBD can shorten REM but boost overall rest.)

  • Clinical Feasibility: The Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical & Research Excellence (ACRE) highlights practical barriers: optimising dosing, avoiding high-THC anxiety, and unfair drug-driving laws. Importantly, the DVA’s 2024 Rapid Evidence Assessment affirmed cannabis’s potential for veteran mental health issues—directly fuelling calls for urgent trials.

  • Veteran Trial: In 2019, Australia launched a world-first veteran PTSD cannabis trial. Results remain unpublished, but it proved feasibility. Meanwhile, observational data from over 1 million Australian patients (2024–25) shows long-term gains in mood and sleep, with veterans reporting reduced PTSD symptoms.

#2

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

  • Limited Data: Preclinical studies suggest cannabinoids provide neuroprotection in TBI—reducing inflammation and excitotoxicity—but no conclusive human trials exist. TGA’s epilepsy guidance shows cannabinoids curb neural kindling, a process mirrored in TBI’s chronic inflammation and PTSD overlap.

  • Observational Reports: Many patients already self-manage TBI symptoms (pain, depression, anxiety) with cannabis. While not definitive, this reflects perceived benefit and justifies trials. New reviews (2023–25) confirm neuroprotective potential, and DVA’s own evidence assessments note improvements in mood and sleep among veterans with TBI—pointing to the need for TBI-specific access.

#3

Current Research Landscape

  • From the DVA review to the 2019 veteran trial and ongoing ECS science, Australian research has laid the foundation: ECS modulation supports fear extinction, reduces inflammation, improves sleep, and regulates mood. What’s missing is action. Well-designed, veteran-focused clinical trials are urgently needed—and campaign pressure can push the TGA and DVA to update outdated guidance.

What We Used Hemp/Cannabis For—Then & Now

Then (colonial era):

Rope & rigging, sails/canvas, sacks, twine, rough cloth; some pharmacy uses.

Now

  • Food: Dehulled hemp seed, oil, and protein.

  • Fibre & building: Textiles, paper, hempcrete, insulation, biocomposites.

  • Medicine: Doctor-prescribed medicinal cannabis (oils, capsules, flower for vaporisation) for specific conditions under clinical supervision.

Where Things Stand Today

  • Medicinal cannabis: Legal with a doctor’s approval via federal/state pathways.

  • Recreational/adult use: Only the ACT allows limited adult possession/growing at home. Selling/sharing remains illegal.

  • Driving: Most jurisdictions ban driving with THC detected, even if prescribed. Some reforms consider judicial discretion or impairment-based approaches, but presence-based offences still generally apply.

  • Industrial hemp: Legal under state/territory licences for fibre and seed; crops must be very low-THC.

Short Timeline

  • 1788: British settlement begins; flax/hemp trials planned to reduce naval reliance on imports (esp. from Russia/Baltic); trials occur in NSW and Norfolk Island.

  • Late 1800s: Cannabis tinctures common in pharmacies; hemp used widely for rope.

  • 1928–1959: States ban cannabis (Victoria first; Tasmania last).

  • 1973: Nimbin Aquarius Festival; later, MardiGrass (from 1993).

  • 1987: SA introduces CENs (civil fines) for minor offences.

  • 1992: ACT launches SCON scheme for small-quantity possession.

  • 1990s–2000s: Industrial hemp licensing across states/territories.

  • 2016: Federal changes enable medicinal cannabis cultivation & supply.

  • 2017: Hemp seed foods legalised.

  • 2020: ACT personal-use law commences.

  • 2020–21: Low-dose CBD down-scheduled to S3 (pharmacist-only) when a product is TGA-approved.

Plain-English Glossary

  • Cannabis: Umbrella term for Cannabis sativa plants and products.

  • Hemp: Very-low-THC cannabis grown for fibre/seed/food.

  • THC: The main intoxicating compound in cannabis.

  • CBD: A non-intoxicating compound under study for various uses.

  • TGA: Therapeutic Goods Administration (federal medicines regulator).

  • FSANZ: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (food code).

  • CEN/SCON: Civil-penalty schemes for minor cannabis offences (SA/ACT, respectively).

Why This History Matters Today

Veterans & medicine: Cannabis preparations were part of mainstream pharmacy into the early 20th century before prohibition. Today’s medicinal-cannabis framework re-opens clinically supervised access for specific conditions and aligns Australia with peers like Canada and Israel.

Trade & sustainability: Hemp once figured in naval supply chains; modern hemp industries point to sustainable fibre, food, and building materials with regional jobs potential.

End notes

(selected sources; last checked OCT 2025)

1. Ancient and Global Context

2. Colonial Pharmacy Uses

3. Cannabis in Australia: History and Prohibition

4. Civil-Penalty and Decriminalisation Models

5. Counter-Culture and Social Movements

6. Industrial Hemp Licensing

7. Medicinal Cannabis Framework (2016–Present)

8. Hemp Seed Foods Legalisation (2017)

9. ACT Personal Use (from 31 Jan 2020)

10. Low-Dose CBD Down-Schedule (Schedule 3)

11. Driving and THC Presence-Based Laws

12. Australian Research and Data

13. Media and Cultural Context

Note on Interpretation

Ancient-history claims are drawn from scholarly and philological reviews; exact datings (e.g., attributions to Shen Nong or Vedic texts) remain debated. This list cites representative, reputable summaries and avoids definitive historical assertions where sources conflict.