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In February 2016, amendments were made to the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (Cth) as the first step in establishing a national scheme for the cultivation and supply of medicinal cannabis products to patients managing particular health conditions. Under the new scheme, a licence must be held by a person or organisation intending to either (a) cultivate cannabis, or (b) manufacture cannabis into medicinal products – or both.

In order to get a licence, an applicant must prove that they, and their business associates, are fit and proper persons. This character assessment is based on criminal history, connections, associates and family, financial status, business history and capacity to comply with licensing requirements. Furthermore, an applicant wanting to cultivate cannabis must demonstrate that they have already established a genuine supply arrangement with a licenced manufacturer of cannabis products.

If a licence is granted, it will come with strict conditions. These conditions relate to: the supply, delivery, transportation and disposal of cannabis plants; names or symbols used in labelling the product; destruction of cannabis plants; facilities, storage and documentation in respect of cultivation or manufacturing activities; safety and surveillance of premises, auditing and reporting, public safety risk management, etc. Not all the conditions have been finalised, and new conditions may be imposed by the government on licence holders from time to time. Serious penalties will apply for licence holders who breach the conditions of their licence.

The establishment of a national licensing regime under the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 (Cth) is only the first step in the process of legalising cannabis use for medicinal purposes. The regime must be implemented by specialised branches of each state and territory government, such as the Pharmaceutical Services Branch of the Department of Health in Western Australia. These state and territory based frameworks are not yet in place and will take some time to be set up. Furthermore, the use of cannabis is still heavily restricted under the national Poisons Standard. The Therapeutic Goods Administration is in the process of relaxing these restrictions but, until this is finalised, cannabis use for medicinal purposes will not be possible.