What Australian medical bodies say about CBD

Australia’s main medical bodies are cautious about CBD. None recommends it, or medicinal cannabis in general, as a first treatment for any condition. The clearest support is for one registered CBD medicine in two rare, severe forms of epilepsy that begin in childhood. For pain, anxiety and other mental health conditions, the relevant specialist colleges say the evidence is not good enough.

The positions at a glance

One thing to keep in mind when reading any of these: most of the statements are about “medicinal cannabis” or “cannabinoids” as a group. That group includes products containing THC, the compound that causes a high. We note below where a statement is about CBD in particular. See CBD vs THC.

What does the TGA say?

The TGA plays two roles: it registers medicines after assessing them, and it publishes guidance for doctors.

Registration. As of November 2026, only two cannabis medicines are registered in Australia: cannabidiol (Epidyolex) and nabiximols (Sativex), a spray that contains THC as well as CBD.⁵ The TGA registered Epidyolex in September 2020 as an add-on treatment for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome in patients aged two years and older.⁶ This is the only approved use of CBD in Australia that we could confirm. See the registered cannabis medicines and CBD for epilepsy.

Guidance. The TGA’s guidance documents for doctors say that medicinal cannabis should be considered only when registered medicines have been tried and failed, and that treatment should be stopped if benefit has not been demonstrated.¹ On specific conditions:

• Epilepsy: the evidence is strongest for children, and there is not enough to recommend it for adults.⁷
• Chronic pain: use caution for chronic non-cancer pain. For chronic nociceptive or musculoskeletal pain (pain from tissue, joints and muscles) there is no scientific data to support use.¹
• Driving: patients should be advised they are not able to drive while being treated with medicinal cannabis.¹
• Pregnancy: medicinal cannabis is not appropriate for women who are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding.⁸

An important caveat: the clinical evidence in these guidance documents dates to 2017. They were updated in November 2024 for regulatory details only.¹

Low-dose CBD. In 2020 the TGA decided that low-dose CBD (up to 150 mg a day) could in principle be sold by pharmacists without a prescription, if a product is first approved and registered.⁹ As of November 2026 no such product has been registered, so no CBD product can be bought from a pharmacy without a prescription.⁵ That decision was based on a review of safety, not on proof that low doses work.¹⁰ See can you buy CBD over the counter in Australia?.

What do GPs say?

The RACGP’s position statement describes the evidence base for medicinal cannabis as “limited and inconclusive”. The college does not recommend or encourage its use, and says it should be considered only after first-line, evidence-based treatments have been exhausted.²

On particular uses, the RACGP says:²

• Epilepsy: low to very low quality evidence for CBD added to seizure medicines achieving a greater than 50% reduction in seizures.
• Nerve pain: some evidence for cannabinoids generally, but the effect is small.
• Palliative care: effectiveness is unclear.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: listed as situations where THC is not appropriate.

The statement is described as a 2019 update, and the page was last updated on 22 April 2025.²

What do pain specialists say?

The Faculty of Pain Medicine, part of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, published its statement in 2021. It says the evidence for cannabinoids in chronic non-cancer pain “remains insufficient to justify endorsement of their clinical use”.³

Its recommendation to doctors, made through the Choosing Wisely program, is direct: do not prescribe currently available cannabinoid products for chronic non-cancer pain unless as part of a registered clinical trial.³

The statement is listed as under review. We found no revised version as of November 2026.³

The international body for pain researchers takes a similar line. In March 2021 the International Association for the Study of Pain said it does not endorse the general use of cannabis or cannabinoids for pain, because high-quality evidence is lacking. It added that this is not meant to dismiss the lived experience of people with pain.¹¹

For CBD on its own, the trial evidence has since become clearer. A 2024 review found that 15 of 16 randomised trials of pharmaceutical-grade CBD showed no benefit over placebo for pain.¹² See CBD for chronic pain.

What do psychiatrists say?

The RANZCP updated its clinical memorandum on medicinal cannabis in March 2024. It says there is insufficient evidence to support medicinal cannabis as a treatment for anxiety and other mental disorders. It raises concern about overprescribing, and flags the risk of psychosis with high-potency THC products.⁴

This matters because anxiety is the second most common condition treated with prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia, according to University of Sydney researchers.¹³ A 2026 review in The Lancet Psychiatry of 54 trials reached a similar conclusion, that routine use of cannabinoids for mental disorders “is currently rarely justified”.¹⁴ See CBD for anxiety, CBD for depression and CBD for PTSD.

What does NPS MedicineWise say?

NPS MedicineWise has published information for health professionals and evidence summaries for particular conditions. Its key points:

• Only two cannabis medicines are registered in Australia. Everything else is an unapproved product.⁵
• For epilepsy in young patients, the evidence base is limited and most studies were rated moderate to very low quality. Most used CBD as an add-on to other medicines. The most common adverse events were diarrhoea, sleepiness and decreased appetite.¹⁵

A review in its journal, Australian Prescriber, noted that very low doses of CBD (about 5 to 25 mg) have little evidence of health benefit.¹⁶

Why legal access is not the same as endorsement

Doctors in Australia can prescribe unapproved cannabis products through special pathways. Those pathways allow access. They are not a judgement by the TGA that the product works for the condition. Our pages on the Special Access Scheme and how the TGA regulates CBD explain the process.

So two things are true at once. These pathways make prescribing lawful, and the professional colleges that represent GPs, pain specialists and psychiatrists do not recommend CBD for most conditions.

How this site uses these positions

Each condition page has a section on what Australian medical bodies say about that condition. The positions sit alongside the trial evidence, which we grade separately. See how we grade the evidence.

Where a body’s statement is old, we say so. Where newer trials have been published since, we report them, whichever way they point.

See also talking to your GP about CBD.

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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