Party Values
We advocate to protect and uphold
- Civil Liberties
- Privacy
- Human Rights
- Personal Freedoms
- Anti-Discrimination / Tolerance
- Compassion
Legalisation and Regulation of Cannabis
Cannabis should be treated in a similar way to alcohol and tobacco, re labelling and advertising, but not subject to the ever-increasing levels of tax paid by consumers on these products. Street cannabis has maintained its current price levels for decades seeing only slight variations or increases depending on availability and quality. Higher prices on legal products would see consumers return to the illicit market.
- An immediate moratorium on all arrests of cannabis consumers.
- Reforms allowing consumers and/or carers to grow cannabis in their gardens or indoors.
- All historical personal-use cannabis criminal records to be expunged.
- Reform of drug driving laws where impairment, not presence, is tested.
- Road safety laws to be amended to allow for a defence for medicinal users.
- A state-based licensing system covering all commercial operations including production, manufacturing, and retail / dispensing.
- An amnesty period for current grey-market growers to transition to become licensed producers with ongoing support provided to boutique growers, small producers, and compassion clubs. Subsidies to incentivise start-ups and not-for-profits.
- State-regulated affordable testing facilities available for producers, growers, and consumers. Such services to be reasonably priced, easy to access with all restrictions currently hampering testing to be lifted.
- A unified independent cannabis authority overseeing personal-use cannabis and hemp production to include end-users and those experienced in cultivation and production in decision-making processes.
Learn about our three-stage plan for the legalisation of Cannabis in Australia
Hemp Policy
Legalise Cannabis Australia calls on the Commonwealth Government to:
- amend the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 and any other relevant legislation to remove obstacles to the cultivation and commercial sale of industrial hemp under the Industrial Hemp Act 2004.
- support a national hemp industry, including changes for whole plant use, so hemp farmers can extract any medicinal cannabidiol and sell it.
- ensure that the Therapeutic Goods Administration reschedule CBD to align with the World Health Organisations recommendation to remove from the drug register.
- create an accreditation framework so industrial hemp is recognised in the carbon credit scheme.
- increase THC limits for industrial hemp (consistent with international standards).
- classify hemp in the National Construction Code (NCC).
- provide financial support for research of the industrial hemp industry.
- create a national standardised framework to provide consistency and efficiency. Currently licensing and cultivation laws vary between states creating confusion and unnecessary red tape.
- ensure financial institutions and insurers treat hemp businesses as agricultural enterprises to remove financial discrimination.
Legalise Cannabis Australia calls on State Governments to:
- create standalone industrial hemp legislation in Victoria and improve hemp acts in other states to ensure legislation is fit-for-purpose.
- provide funding to set up hemp co-operatives, manufacturing and processing facilities.
- simplify licensing and permit requirements to encourage more growers to enter the market and reduce the bureaucratic burden on farmers.
- fund and promote research into new hemp-based products and applications.
- relax excessive testing and reporting requirements which place an administrative burden on farmers.
- hemp should be encouraged as an important rotation crop on farms given it has been successfully used to restore damaged soil.
- procurement and infrastructure contracts should be created that consider the use of industrial hemp in developments. Focus should be given to fire and mould resistance, noting that ‘hempcrete’ has proven fire retardant properties.
NSW Hemp Industry Taskforce Report
VIC Inquiry into the Industrial Hemp Industry Report
Legalise Cannabis Victoria introduces the Hemp Industry Bill
Victorian Government responds to recommendations from the Inquiry into the industrial hemp industry in Victoria report
WA Select Committee into Cannabis and Hemp Report
The WA Government's response to the Select Committee into Cannabis and Hemp Report