Australia: federal penalty tables, sourced 1987 and 2016 entries, two articles

2016-0210-2429

Parliament amendedFrom 29 October 2016, the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 allowed the Commonwealth to allow cannabis to be grownlicense the cultivation and suppliedmanufacture of cannabis for medical and scientific use. Access was slow at, creating the first lawful domestic supply. Parliament passed the amendment in February 2016, but is now easythe licensing provisions commenced only on 29 October after no proclamation was made. Patients still needed TGA approval through telehealth clinicsthe Special Access Scheme or an authorised prescriber; the Act did not create a patient register or a pharmacy product.

Australia — Narcotic Drugs Amendment Act 2016 (Cth) Therapeutic Goods Administration — Medicinal cannabis Wikipedia — Cannabis in Australia

australia-narcotic-drugs-act-1967, australia-act-legalises-2020

sa

From 30 April 1987, South Australia replaced criminal charges for small amountsdealt with simple cannabis offences by expiation notice instead of court: adults caught with up to 100 g of herb, 20 g of resin or 10 plants could pay $50–$150 within 60 days and avoid a few plants with an on-conviction. The scheme came from the 1979 South Australian Royal Commission into the Non-spot fineMedical Use of Drugs, underwhich recommended that minor use not be a law passedcriminal offence, and it was the first in 1986Australia. The Australian Capital TerritoryACT copied it in 1992 and the Northern Territory copied the scheme in 1996; the 1990s, and the other states moved tochose cautions andor diversion. The current SA scheme is narrower, covering 100 g and one non-hydroponic plant, with fees of $250 and $400. The 30 April date still needs a South Australian primary source; the UNODC report says only that the scheme was operational in 1987.

UNODC — Drug Policy and Results in Australia (2008) South Australia — Controlled Substances (Controlled Drugs, Precursors and Plants) Regulations 2014 Wikipedia — Cannabis in Australia

australia-royal-commission-1979, australia-act-fines-1992, australia-northern-territory-notices-1996

label ACT home grow (one or two plants, household maximum four) · treatment legal · term P … traffickable quantity: 200 penalty units or two years; five or more plants is traffickable, label Commonwealth commercial cultivation · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison 25 years · life possible · note 250 kg or 1,000 plants; up to life under Criminal Code section 303.4

Among the easiest medical systems to use: any registered doctor can prescribeapply through the special-access orscheme, while an authorised -prescriber pathways withneeds separate TGA approval before prescribing to a class of patients; there is no fixed list of conditions.[@tga] A wide range of prescription flower, oils, vapes and e … e.[@tga] Not subsidised, and regulators have been tightening telehealth prescribing.[@tga]

Even in the Australian Capital Territory, where adults may grow two plants, selling or supplying cannabis seeds is illegal and there is no legal way to obtain them; a small quantity of seed may fall inside the adult possession exemption, but the trade is banned.[@adf] The only lawful cannabis is what a resident grows.[@adf] Commonwealth law is unchanged, and elsewhere in Australia growing is an offence or a fine.[@adf]

Road law belongs to the states, and the general model is a presence offence: detected THC … mendments still awaited proclamation in the reviewed legislative history.[@qldCommence26] Tasmania is the exception: a patient whose medicinal cannabis was prescribed and dispensed there may drive if unimpaired.[@tasDriving26]

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In the ACT, selling, sharing or giving cannabis is an offence, so a visitor has no lawful adult-use purchase there.[@actpolice] The sources behind this profile describeNo jurisdiction has legal adult-use sales, and no separate rulereciprocal route for visitorsa foreign medical prescription was found; a visitor would need an Australian prescriber and the TGA pathway.[@tga]

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The national Illicit Drug Data Report counted 66,285 cannabis arrests in Australia in 2020 … arrests, for possession or use, and one in ten were provider arrests, for supply.[@nceta] The Illicit Drug Data Report series had not published a newer national edition than 2020–21 when this profile was reviewed.[@nceta]

The Conversation — Can I drive when taking medicinal cannabis? Is it safe? (29 March 2026) 27 unchanged

AUD

label Commonwealth trafficking, any quantity · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison 10 years · note Criminal Code section 302.4; state and territory ladders differ, label Commonwealth trafficking, marketable quantity · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison 25 years · note 25 kg cannabis; section 302.3, label Commonwealth trafficking, commercial quantity · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · prison 25 years · life possible · note 125 kg cannabis; up to life under section 302.2