Update: As of April 13 2018 state approval is no longer required for medicinal cannabis products. Please see this article for an overview of federal regulations.
To prescribe medicinal cannabis products in Western Australia, doctors must apply for federal approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), as well as gain state approval from the WA health authority. State approval depends upon which schedule listing the medical cannabis products are classified as.
Currently the TGA’s fastest access pathway for medicinal cannabis is the Special Access Scheme Category B (or SAS B). Submissions must be made on a per-patient basis and usually take between 1 – 6 days for approval.
| State | Schedule Listing | TGA Approval Process | State Approval Process |
| Western Australia | Schedule 4 | SAS B | not required |
| Western Australia | Schedule 8 | SAS B | WA Health Approval |
Once approval is given from the TGA, the doctor will receive an approval certificate that must be provided to the medicinal cannabis product supplier before the product can be legally dispatched. Once approval is given from the WA State Health Department, the pharmacist will receive an approval certificate, which is required to legally dispense the product to the patient.
Approval forms can be downloaded from the TGA website using the links displayed in the table above, or the CannabisAccess medical cannabis portal may be used for online submissions.