Cannabis clinics are legal medical practices, and their prescribers work under the same rules as any other doctor or nurse practitioner.1 Regulators have also said plainly that some of these businesses have put profit ahead of patient safety.2 This page does not name, rank or recommend any clinic.
What have regulators said?
In July 2025 Ahpra, the Medical Board and the Nursing and Midwifery Board published guidance on medicinal cannabis prescribing. It says:2
- “The Boards are concerned that profits are being prioritised over patient safety in some medicinal cannabis prescribing practices.”
- Some practices “use online questionnaires that coach patients to say ‘the right thing’ to justify prescribing”.
- Working in an organisation that prescribes and dispenses a single medication creates “an inherent conflict of interest”, and “a declaration of a conflict on a website is not sufficient”.
Its examples of poor practice include eight practitioners who each issued more than 10,000 prescriptions in six months, and consultations “lasting between a few seconds and a few minutes”.23 Ahpra says it may investigate high prescribers “even if we have not received a complaint”.2
What must a proper consultation involve?
The Boards say a prescriber must confirm your identity and must not prescribe to anyone they have “never had a real-time consultation with”. They “do not consider an online chat to be a synchronous consultation”.2
Can a clinic advertise CBD?
No. Advertising prescription medicines to the public is unlawful. A clinic may advertise its consultations but not the medicine, and listing conditions it may treat or offering an eligibility questionnaire is likely to count as advertising.4 On 30 October 2026 the TGA announced that the Federal Court had ordered a clinic company and its former director to pay $6.95 million for unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis.5
Do clinics mostly prescribe CBD?
No. 85% of units sold in the first half of 2025 were products in the category with almost no CBD.6 A CBD-only product is Schedule 4. Products with meaningful THC are Schedule 8, with different effects and consequences for driving.7
What can you ask?
- Is the prescriber a doctor or nurse practitioner? (You can check Ahpra’s public register.)2
- Is the product CBD-only, or does it contain THC?
- Can I fill the prescription at a pharmacy of my choice?
- Does the business have a financial link to the pharmacy or product?
- What are all the fees, and what is the plan if it does not help?
Concerns about a practitioner go to Ahpra. Suspected unlawful advertising goes to the TGA.24
Read the full guide: cannabis clinics and telehealth.
Footnotes
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Access pathways for medicinal cannabis. https://www.tga.gov.au/products/unapproved-therapeutic-goods/medicinal-cannabis/access-pathways ↩
-
Ahpra, Medical Board of Australia and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Medicinal cannabis prescribing, page reviewed 15 September 2026. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Medicinal-cannabis-prescribing.aspx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
-
Ahpra. News release on medicinal cannabis prescribing guidance, 9 July 2025. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2025-07-09-Medicinal-cannabis-guidance.aspx ↩
-
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
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Media release on Federal Court penalties for unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis, 30 October 2026. https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/court-orders-cda-clinics-qld-and-its-former-director-pay-695-million-unlawful-advertising-medicinal-cannabis ↩
-
Penington Institute. Cannabis in Australia, November 2025. https://www.penington.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Penington_Institute_Cannabis-in-Australia_Nov_2025.pdf ↩
-
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 ↩
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.
Didn't find what you needed? Ask us a question.
Get the monthly update
One short email a month: what changed in Australian CBD law, regulation and research, and which guides we updated. No advertising. Unsubscribe any time. (As of November 2026 we are collecting sign-ups; the first update has not been sent yet.)