Cory Bernardi voted very strongly against increasing access to medicinal cannabis products

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Victorian Senator Richard Di Natale (Greens), which means the matter will be referred to a Committee.

You can follow the inquiry on the Committee website.

Motion text

That the following matter be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 12 February 2020:

The current barriers to patient access to medicinal cannabis in Australia, including:

(a) the appropriateness of the current regulatory regime through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Special Access Scheme (SAS), Authorised Prescriber Scheme and clinical trials;

(b) the suitability of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for subsidising patient access to medicinal cannabis products;

(c) the interaction between state and territory authorities and the Commonwealth, including overlap and variation between state and territory schemes;

(d) Australia's regulatory regime in comparison to international best practice models for medicinal cannabis regulation and patient access;

(e) the availability of training for doctors in the current TGA regulatory regime for prescribing medicinal cannabis to their patients;

(f) the education of doctors in the Endogenous Cannabinoid System (ECS), and the appropriateness of medicinal cannabis treatments for various indications;

(g) sources of information for doctors about uses of medicinal cannabis and how these might be improved and widened;

(h) delays in access, and the practice of product substitution, due to importation of medicinal cannabis and the shortage of Australian manufactured medicinal cannabis products;

(i) the current status of the domestic regulated medicinal cannabis industry;

(j) the impacts on the mental and physical wellbeing of those patients struggling to access medicinal cannabis through Australia's regulatory regime;

(k) the particular barriers for those in rural and remote areas in accessing medicinal cannabis legally;

(l) the significant financial barriers to accessing medicinal cannabis treatment;

(m) the number of Australian patients continuing to rely on unregulated supply of medicinal cannabis due to access barriers and the impacts associated with that; and

(n) any related matters.

The majority voted in favour of a motion that the vote on whether to disallow the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Narcotic Drugs) Regulation 2016 should be voted on again. This means that that vote can now take place again.

What was the vote?

Senator Di Natale explains what this disallowance would restore the ability of terminally ill patients to access medicinal cannabis products. Read more about the regulation in its explanatory memorandum and the arguments for its disallowance in the debate.