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How much does CBD cost in Australia?

Prescribed CBD is mostly paid for in full by the patient. What makes up the cost, the few figures that can be sourced, and how to compare per milligram.

Facts checked 13 November 20267 min readHow we research

There is no single price for CBD in Australia. Almost all CBD oils are unapproved prescription medicines with no government subsidy, so the patient pays the full private price, and that price differs between products and pharmacies. Healthdirect, the government health information service, says medicinal cannabis “may cost thousands of dollars each year”, depending on the illness, the product and the dose.1

We have not published a table of bottle prices, because we could not find current figures from an independent source. This page explains what the cost is made of and how to compare.

What are you paying for?

Cost Who sets it Is there a subsidy?
The consultation, and follow-up consultations The doctor or practice Depends on the provider and the type of consultation. See below.
The medicine The supplier and the pharmacy No, unless it is Epidyolex on the PBS or funded by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Delivery, if the pharmacy posts it The pharmacy No

The RACGP puts it plainly: the cost “varies depending on the type and dose required, and the patient is responsible for all costs associated with this access”.2

The TGA expects prescribers to explain “the costs, access arrangements and implications for ongoing treatment” before a patient agrees to start an unapproved cannabis medicine.3 It is reasonable to ask for the expected monthly cost at the consultation.

Why is there no standard price?

Medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) have a price agreed with the government. Unapproved medicines do not. A TGA release shows that 142 distinct CBD-only oral liquid products were reported as supplied in 2024.4 Each has its own strength, bottle size and price.

The TGA has also explained why companies have not registered CBD products, which would be the first step towards a PBS listing: easy access through the unapproved pathways “has reduced or removed the incentive” to produce the trial data that registration needs.5

How is cost per milligram worked out?

Cost per milligram is the price divided by the total CBD in the bottle.

  1. Find the total CBD in the bottle. Multiply the strength (milligrams per millilitre) by the volume (millilitres).
  2. Divide the price by that total.

The numbers below are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not real prices.

Strength Volume Total CBD Price Cost per mg
Bottle A 100 mg/mL 30 mL 3,000 mg $150 5 cents
Bottle B 25 mg/mL 30 mL 750 mg $60 8 cents

Bottle B has the lower price on the label and the higher cost for each milligram. The CBD cost calculator does this sum for you and shows how long a bottle would last at a given daily amount. How to read a CBD label explains where to find the strength.

Cost per milligram only compares like with like. A CBD-only product (98% or more CBD) and a “CBD dominant” product that also contains THC are different medicines in different legal schedules, with different effects and risks.6

Why does dose matter so much?

The monthly cost is the cost per milligram multiplied by the milligrams taken each day. Dose is set by the prescriber, and it varies a great deal.

For scale, the approved CBD medicine for epilepsy was studied at 10 to 20 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, which for an adult is many hundreds of milligrams daily.7 At that kind of dose, even a low cost per milligram adds up quickly. At a few tens of milligrams a day the bill is much smaller, but the evidence that such doses do anything is weaker. See CBD dosage and does low-dose CBD work?

This is worth weighing against the evidence. For many conditions, controlled trials found CBD no better than placebo, which means a person could pay for months of treatment that a trial suggests would not help.8910 The conditions section shows what trials found for each use.

What figures can be sourced?

Only a few, and they describe the subsidised exceptions more than the ordinary case.

  • Epidyolex on the PBS. The published price of a 100 mL bottle (100 mg/mL, so 10,000 mg of CBD) is $1,532.91. A special pricing arrangement applies, so the government pays less than that. An eligible patient pays the PBS co-payment.11 On our arithmetic, the published price works out at about 15 cents per milligram.
  • PBS co-payments. As of 1 July 2026, $25.00 for general patients and $7.70 for concession card holders.12
  • Veterans. Where the Department of Veterans’ Affairs approves funding, the veteran pays the $7.70 concessional co-payment each time the prescription is supplied.13 See CBD and DVA.
  • Private health insurance. One insurer’s fact sheet, dated 12 June 2026, offers up to $75 or $100 per prescription, with annual limits of $450 or $600, depending on the policy.14 Another says only TGA-approved products can be claimed.15 See PBS, Medicare and health insurance.

What could not be confirmed?

  • Bottle prices and typical cost per milligram for unapproved CBD oils. No independent published source was found.
  • Consultation fees. Fees are set by each practice. We found no independent survey of them.
  • Medicare rebates for these consultations. We could not confirm rules specific to cannabis consultations. For GP telehealth in general, the health department says a patient must have seen that GP, or another GP at the same practice, face to face in the previous 12 months to be eligible, with limited exceptions.16
  • Average monthly spend. Figures are quoted online, mostly by businesses in the sector. We have not repeated them.

Are there concessions or other help?

  • Concession cards reduce the PBS co-payment, but that only applies to a PBS-listed medicine.12 Whether a pharmacy or practice offers its own concession pricing on a private prescription is a business decision.
  • Compassionate schemes. The RACGP notes that “in several states and territories, patients may be eligible for medicinal cannabis products compassionate use schemes”.2 We could not confirm the current details of any scheme.
  • Clinical trials supply the study medicine as part of the research.17
  • NDIS. NDIS guidance says the scheme is not the most appropriate agency to fund medicinal cannabis products, because they are pharmaceuticals.18
  • Workers’ compensation. Policies differ by scheme. As one example, WorkSafe Victoria says it “does not support the use of medicinal cannabis” for chronic non-cancer pain because of the lack of evidence, and will consider paying only in rare exceptions with specialist support.19
  • Tax. The medical expenses tax offset ended on 30 June 2019.20

Why not buy cheaper CBD from overseas?

Because it is unlawful, and the product is unchecked. Importing CBD without a licence and permit is prohibited, and parcels can be seized.21 See importing CBD and is what is on the label in the bottle?

Footnotes

  1. Healthdirect Australia. Medicinal cannabis, last reviewed February 2026. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/medicinal-cannabis ↩

  2. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Position statement: medicinal cannabis products. https://www.racgp.org.au/advocacy/position-statements/view-all-position-statements/clinical-and-practice-management/medical-cannabis ↩ ↩2

  3. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Do your patients know the risks of unapproved medicinal cannabis products?, 2 June 2026. https://www.tga.gov.au/news/blog/do-your-patients-know-risks-unapproved-medicinal-cannabis-products ↩

  4. Therapeutic Goods Administration. FOI 25-0200: Category 1 (CBD) medicinal cannabis approvals and supply data, 2025. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/FOI%2025-0200.pdf ↩

  5. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation paper: Reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products, August 2025. https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/user_uploads/final---consultation-paper---medicinal-cannabis-review---august-2025.pdf ↩

  6. Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026, cannabidiol entries. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩

  7. US National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. Epidiolex (cannabidiol) oral solution, prescribing information. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=8bf27097-4870-43fb-94f0-f3d0871d1eec ↩

  8. Bebee B and others. Cannabidiol for acute low back pain (CANBACK trial), Medical Journal of Australia, 2021. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/cannabidiol-no-better-placebo-low-back-pain ↩

  9. Pramhas S and others. Oral cannabidiol as add-on to paracetamol for painful chronic osteoarthritis of the knee, randomised trial, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10682664/ ↩

  10. Narayan AJ and others. Cannabidiol for moderate to severe insomnia, randomised controlled trial of 150 mg nightly, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38174873/ ↩

  11. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Cannabidiol, item 12467E, viewed November 2026. https://www.pbs.gov.au/medicine/item/12467E ↩

  12. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Fees, patient contributions and safety net thresholds, as at 1 July 2026. https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/healthpro/explanatory-notes/front/fee ↩ ↩2

  13. Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Medicinal cannabis, updated 1 September 2026. https://www.dva.gov.au/what-we-help-with/health-support/help-to-cover-healthcare-costs/manage-medicine-and-keep-costs-down/medicinal-cannabis ↩

  14. HCi (Health Care Insurance Limited). Fact sheet: claiming for medicinal cannabis products, 12 June 2026. https://www.hciltd.com.au/claiming-for-medicinal-cannabis ↩

  15. Teachers Health. Claiming for medicinal cannabis (undated). https://www.teachershealth.com.au/faqs/claiming/medication/claiming-for-medicinal-cannabis ↩

  16. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Telehealth. https://www.health.gov.au/topics/health-technologies-and-digital-health/about/telehealth ↩

  17. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Access pathways for medicinal cannabis. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis/access-pathways ↩

  18. National Disability Insurance Agency. Would we fund it: pharmaceuticals. https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/would-we-fund-it/consumables/pharmaceuticals ↩

  19. WorkSafe Victoria. Medicinal cannabis policy. https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/medicinal-cannabis-policy ↩

  20. Australian Taxation Office. Medical expenses tax offset, updated 16 June 2025. https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/income-deductions-offsets-and-records/tax-offsets/medical-expenses-tax-offset ↩

  21. Office of Drug Control. Consumer warning on importing CBD and hemp products, 15 May 2018. https://www.odc.gov.au/node/1328 ↩

Common questions

How much is a bottle of CBD oil in Australia?

We could not find an independent, published source for current bottle prices, so we do not quote one. Prices vary by product, strength, bottle size and pharmacy. The pharmacy that dispenses the prescription can tell you the price before you pay.

Why is CBD oil expensive in Australia?

Almost all CBD oils are unapproved medicines, so they are not subsidised by the PBS and the patient pays the full private price. Costs also rise with dose, and the doses studied in clinical trials are often much larger than people expect.

What is cost per milligram?

It is the price of the bottle divided by the total milligrams of CBD inside it. A bottle that looks cheaper can cost more per milligram if it is weaker or smaller. Cost per milligram lets you compare products of different strengths fairly.

Can I claim CBD oil on tax?

The Australian Taxation Office says the medical expenses tax offset is not available from 1 July 2019. We found no current tax concession for the cost of prescribed medicines.

This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

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