Since its legalisation in 2016, the Australian medicinal cannabis market has experienced significant growth with over one million Australians accessing medicinal cannabis prescriptions by 2024. For businesses looking to enter or maximise their presence within the medicinal cannabis market, understanding the evolving prescriber landscape and access pathways is crucial to navigate this dynamic market effectively.

The Expanding Prescriber Base

Within Australia, patient access to medicinal cannabis therapy is facilitated through registered healthcare professionals including –

General Practitioners (GPs)
Specialist Practitioners

Authorised Prescribers (APs)
Nurse Practitioners (NPs)

Whereby the number of healthcare professionals authorised to prescribe within the nation has increased substantially as a result of increased patient interest, reduced stigma of this therapeutic type and practitioner education regarding alternative medicines.

Research by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners shows that approved prescribers facilitate a significant portion of medicinal cannabis prescriptions, followed by general practitioners with a notable rise in nurse practitioners – with allied health professionals also influencing patient access pathways even if they do not prescribe directly. With patients based around the nation, urban areas often see a higher concentration of patients, with regional and rural areas presenting opportunities for expansion to meet growing patient demand.

Navigating Prescribing Pathways

For practitioners looking to facilitate patient access to medicinal cannabis treatments, there are two primary pathways for prescribing unapproved medicinal cannabis products —

Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B): This is the most common route, allowing prescribers including General Practitioners, Specialist Practitioners and Nurse Practitioners that are not Approved Prescribers to apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for individual patient approvals. While effective, it requires a detailed clinical justification for each application and can be time consuming. Furthermore, Approved Prescribers (APs) may utilise this pathway for medicinal cannabis related devices, medicinal cannabis medications that they do not have MAP certification for, or for medicinal cannabis mediations or amounts that they do not usually prescribe.

Authorised Prescriber (AP) Scheme: This pathway enables experienced and certified clinicians to prescribe specific unapproved medicinal cannabis products to particular patient groups without seeking individual approvals. For Doctors who are Approved Prescribes, a specialty course and ethics committee approval is required to become certified. Despite its efficiency, uptake of the Approved Prescriber pathway remains limited due to perceived complexities in the application process. However, any Doctor can become an Approved Prescriber should they choose to pursue this access scheme, with many companies offering assistance in facilitating this certification.

Barriers to Prescribing

With the market continuing to evolve within both product formats offered, variety of medications available and an increase in practitioners facilitating access for patients that are suitable for treatment, the industry and patients still face a variety of hurdles including –

Educational Gaps: Whilst uptake of medicinal cannabis treatment is increasing, many prescribers have a limited understanding of the impact of terpenes and various cannabinoids leading to uncertainties around product selection. With the lack of education regarding medicinal cannabis provided to general practitioners this may also impact product selection, dosing and potential interactions leading to issues within patient treatment.
Potential prescribers may also shy away from or deter patients from medicinal cannabis treatment due to the underlying stigma that exists. Despite medicinal cannabis companies having teams ready and able to educate doctors on the various intricacies of medicinal cannabis products and therapy, access is extremely difficult due to a variety of gatekeepers and time-poor practitioners.
Regulatory Complexity: In addition to the varied regulations and laws that differ between states and territories which may cause more confusion for prescribers, patients and pharmacists.
Patient Education: Per the Therapeutic Goods Administration advertising guidelines, medicinal cannabis companies including clinics and brands that facilitate medicinal cannabis treatment are not allowed to market directly to patients. As such, patients must speak directly to healthcare professionals to access education and information related to medicinal cannabis therapy which may lead to confusion for cannabis-naive patients and frustration from experienced patients who don't feel properly supported by their prescribers.

Emergence of Telehealth Clinics

Over the years, cannabis-specific telehealth clinics have become more common and have transformed patient access, offering streamlined consultations and prescribing processes. As a result, these clinics have had a big part to play in increasing the patient base for medicinal cannabis due to their accessibility - especially in remote areas. However, there are a few concerns that have been raised about the quality of care in these high-volume medical business models, and calls have been made for balanced, patient-centric approaches.

With a rapid increase in medicinal cannabis-specific telehealth providers, it’s crucial for new market entrants to have a key point of difference in what they offer to patients and ensure they are in line with regulatory guidelines per the Therapeutic Goods Administration as it applies to advertising, bulk billing and patient prescribing on both a national and state and territory level.

Pharmacy's Integral Role

Within the medicinal cannabis landscape, pharmacists play a key role in the medicinal cannabis supply chain being a continual point of contact for patients in dispensing their medications – with their responsibilities including.

Dispensing: Ensuring the accurate and timely provision of prescribed products.
Education: Guiding patients on product use, potential side effects, and storage.
Collaboration: Working closely with prescribers to manage stock availability and address any prescribing challenges.

Pharmacist-led education initiatives can also support prescriber onboarding and facilitate product transitions. As such, pharmacists should also work closely alongside prescribers and patients to maximise patient outcomes, facilitate any required education and assist patients in navigating their medicinal cannabis treatment alongside the patient’s prescribing doctor.

With the medicinal cannabis landscape evolving at a rapid pace, we will continue to explore the complexities of the market in a dedicated market insights series titled Australia’s Medicinal Cannabis Market including everything from legislation to industry stakeholders, access pathways, patient demographics, clinic offerings, medication dispensing, suppliers and wholesaling.

Learn More

EQWELLIBRIYUM offers end-to-end consulting for organisations navigating the medicinal cannabis market in Australia. With strategic insights and operational frameworks are designed to help you thrive, we’re here to help you. Learn more by contacting us today at hello@eqwellibriyum.com.

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Reference List

¹ Medical Board of Australia. (2024). Regulators come together as one million Australians turn to medicinal cannabis. Retrieved from https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/News/2024-02-20-medical-cannabis-treatment.aspx(medicalboard.gov.au)

² Therapeutic Goods Administration. (2025). Medicinal cannabis: access pathways and usage data. Retrieved from https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis-hub/medicinal-cannabis-access-pathways-and-usage-data(tga.gov.au)

³ Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. (2025). Exploring access to medicinal cannabis through general practitioners in Australia. Retrieved from https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2025/march/exploring-access-to-medicinal-cannabis-through-gen(www1.racgp.org.au)

⁴ CannabisPlace. (2020). Cannabis Clinics TeleHealth: Medical Marijuana Online Australia. Retrieved from https://www.cannabisplace.com.au/learn/telehealth-clinics-australia(cannabisplace.com.au)

⁵ NPS MedicineWise. (2020). Medicinal cannabis: 7 questions from pharmacists. Retrieved fromhttps://www.nps.org.au/assets/Medicinal-cannabis-7-questions-from-pharmacists.pdf(nps.org.au)

Market Insights — Prescribers & Pathways