You cannot lawfully buy a CBD medicine online in Australia without a prescription. CBD is a Schedule 4 prescription-only medicine, and as of November 2026 no over-the-counter CBD product has been approved.12 Websites that sell it without a prescription are either selling hemp seed oil with a trace of CBD, or supplying a prescription medicine unlawfully.
How is CBD lawfully supplied?
A doctor or nurse practitioner registered in Australia prescribes it, and a pharmacy dispenses it against that prescription. For almost all CBD products, the prescriber also needs a Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval or authority, because the products are unapproved medicines.3 Patients cannot arrange this themselves.3
The health practitioner regulator, Ahpra, says there should be no prescribing without a real-time consultation, and that an online chat does not count.4
The pathway is described in how legal access to CBD works and filling a CBD prescription.
Is it legal for an Australian website to sell CBD without a prescription?
No, not if the product contains real amounts of CBD.
Any product with more than 75 mg of CBD per kilogram is at least a Schedule 4 medicine.1 Supplying a Schedule 4 medicine without a prescription is unlawful under state and territory medicines and poisons laws.5 In New South Wales, cannabis products that fall outside Schedules 3, 4 and 8 are prohibited drugs under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985.6
The pharmacist-only category (Schedule 3) does not help these sellers. It applies only to products on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, and none is.12 See over-the-counter CBD.
The law on supply is aimed first at the seller. But the buyer is not outside it. The Office of Drug Control has said that individuals importing CBD or hemp oils “are also breaking State/Territory laws on supply and use of prescription medicines”.5 Penalties for possessing a prescription medicine or a cannabis product without authority differ between states and territories, and we have not set them out here.
What about ordering from an overseas website?
That is an import, and a prohibited one. Cannabinoids cannot be imported without both a licence and a permit, and the personal importation scheme that covers some other medicines excludes cannabis products.78 The Australian Border Force has warned that such items “will be seized at the border” and that the people who order them “may face prosecution”.9
A product being legal to sell in the country it is shipped from makes no difference to Australian law. See importing CBD from overseas.
What is the “hemp oil” sold on marketplaces and in shops?
Usually it is hemp seed oil. That is a food pressed from the seeds of the hemp plant. The Poisons Standard exempts it from the CBD rules only when it contains 75 mg/kg or less of CBD and 10 mg/kg or less of THC.1 That is less than 0.0075% CBD.
The Office of Drug Control draws a firm line between the two products. It says hemp oil “is an extract of a plant in the genus Cannabis” that “usually contains THC and CBD in excess of the threshold amounts”, and that it “is not to be confused with” hemp seed oil. It adds: “Only the seeds of the hemp plant can be used for human consumption - extracts from the remainder of the plant are considered a drug.”10
Food rules also apply. The Food Standards Code says “Cannabidiol must not be present in any food for sale at a level greater than 75 mg/kg”. Labels on hemp foods must not make a health claim about CBD, show any part of the plant other than the seed, or use the word “cannabis”.11
So a product is one of three things:
| What it is | CBD content | Legal status without a prescription |
|---|---|---|
| Hemp seed oil (food) | 75 mg/kg or less | Lawful |
| CBD product, CBD 98% or more of cannabinoids | Above 75 mg/kg | Unlawful to supply (Schedule 4) |
| Cannabis extract with more than 2% other cannabinoids | Varies | Unlawful to supply (Schedule 8 or prohibited) |
The table is drawn from the Poisons Standard entries.1 See CBD oil vs hemp seed oil and how to read a CBD label.
What are the risks of products from outside the prescription system?
Unknown contents. Medicinal cannabis supplied lawfully in Australia must meet a quality standard called TGO 93, which covers cannabinoid content, pesticides, microbes and other contaminants, and must be made under Good Manufacturing Practice.2 A product sold outside that system has not been held to it. See quality standards and is what is on the label in the bottle?
THC. Sport Integrity Australia cites a study in which 21% of CBD products contained THC.12 THC is the target of roadside and workplace drug tests. See CBD and driving and CBD and drug tests.
No clinical oversight. In the TGA’s 2025 review, most stakeholders saw CBD as “generally well tolerated” but also pointed to adverse events and drug interactions.13 A prescriber must obtain informed consent and report harmful reactions to the TGA.14 A website does neither. See CBD drug interactions and CBD and the liver.
What signs suggest a website is not operating lawfully?
These points follow from the rules above. They are not a test of quality.
- It offers CBD in real doses with no prescription required.1
- It ships CBD to Australia from another country.7
- It claims a product treats or cures conditions, or uses customer testimonials about health benefits. Advertising prescription medicines to the public is prohibited in Australia, and the TGA regards testimonials about medicinal cannabis as likely to be unlawful advertising.15
- It says a product is “TGA approved” or “registered by the TGA”. Implying TGA endorsement in advertising is prohibited.15 Only two cannabis medicines are registered.2
- It says a product is legal because it is under a certain THC percentage. Australian law sets no such threshold.1
The reverse also holds. Because advertising is banned, lawful suppliers say very little about products in public. See why Australian clinics cannot advertise CBD.
Who decides whether CBD is appropriate?
Under the law, only a prescriber can. Whether CBD is appropriate for a person is a clinical decision that weighs what the evidence shows for the condition and what other treatments exist. The conditions section sets out what trials found for each use. See also talking to your GP about CBD.
Footnotes
-
Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
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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 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis access pathways. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis/access-pathways ↩ ↩2
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Ahpra and National Boards. Medicinal cannabis prescribing guidance. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Medicinal-cannabis-prescribing.aspx ↩
-
Office of Drug Control. Consumer warning on CBD and hemp oil imports, 15 May 2018. https://www.odc.gov.au/node/1328 ↩ ↩2
-
NSW Health. Cannabis medicines: frequently asked questions. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pharmaceutical/cannabismedicines/Pages/faqs.aspx ↩
-
Australian Government. Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956, regulation 5 and Schedule 4. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F1996B03651/latest/text ↩ ↩2
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis importation and the traveller’s exemption, updated 29 January 2025. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/explore-topic/medicinal-cannabis-hub/medicinal-cannabis-information-patients/medicinal-cannabis-importation-and-travellers-exemption ↩
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Australian Border Force. Increase in seizures prompts warning, media release republished by Mirage News, 5 July 2021. https://www.miragenews.com/increase-in-seizures-prompts-warning-to-590129/ ↩
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Office of Drug Control. Hemp products. https://www.odc.gov.au/node/1372 ↩
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Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.4.4, compilation of 12 November 2017. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2015L00416/2017-11-12/2017-11-12/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html ↩
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Sport Integrity Australia. CBD flyer. https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au/sites/default/files/SIA321-0624-CBD%20Flyer-A-3%20%5BDIGITAL%5D.pdf ↩
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation hub: reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products. https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/ ↩
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Do your patients know the risks of unapproved medicinal cannabis products? https://www.tga.gov.au/news/blog/do-your-patients-know-risks-unapproved-medicinal-cannabis-products ↩
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Advertising guidance for businesses involved with medicinal cannabis products, December 2023. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/advertising-guidance-businesses-medicinal-cannabis-products.docx ↩ ↩2
Common questions
Can I buy CBD oil online in Australia?
Not lawfully without a prescription. CBD is a prescription-only medicine, and no over-the-counter product has been approved as of November 2026. A prescribed product is dispensed by a pharmacy against the prescription.
Are Australian websites selling CBD oil without a prescription legal?
If the product contains more than 75 mg of CBD per kilogram, it is at least a Schedule 4 prescription-only medicine, and supplying it without a prescription is unlawful under state and territory medicines law. An Australian web address does not change that.
Is the hemp oil sold on online marketplaces CBD?
Usually not. Lawful retail hemp seed oil is pressed from seeds and may contain no more than 75 mg/kg of CBD, which is under 0.0075%. It is a food, not a CBD medicine.
Is it safe to buy CBD from an unregulated website?
There is no way to be sure what is in the bottle. Products outside the prescription system are not checked against the Australian quality standard. They may contain more or less CBD than the label says, or THC, which can show up on roadside and workplace drug tests.
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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