Industrial hemp in Victoria

What is industrial hemp?

Industrial hemp refers to cultivars of the genus Cannabis L containing very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that are used for non-therapeutic purposes (food, cosmetics and fibre).

The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 refers to industrial hemp as ‘low-THC cannabis’, which means cannabis where the leaves and flowering heads do not contain more than 1.0% of the psychoactive chemical compound THC.

Cannabis cultivars used in the cultivation and production of medicinal cannabis products may contain significantly higher levels of THC in their leaves and flowering heads than in industrial hemp. Licences and permits to grow and process medicinal cannabis are issued by the Australian Government’s Office of Drug Control.

Hemp licences

A licence is required in Victoria to authorise the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp and seed for non-therapeutic (not medicinal) purposes. Agriculture Victoria is responsible for issuing these licences.

To apply for a licence, applicants are required to provide:

• national criminal history checks for themselves and their associates
• a credit report
• the purpose of the crop (seed for food or sowing, fibre, hurd or other) or a research plan
• information about the proposed growing site(s) as part of the application process.

Site assessments are also generally required.

Non-therapeutic uses of industrial hemp include:

• fibre
• cosmetics
• food.

The licensing scheme for industrial hemp is provided under Part IVA of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981.

An application form and guidelines can be obtained from our Customer Service Centre on 136 186.

Current licence fees and inspector charges

• Licence application fee – 30 fee units ($489.90)
• Licence renewal fee – 9.5 fee units ($155.10)
• Inspector fee for certain activities (sampling, inspections) – 3.5 fee units per quarter hour ($57.20)
• Inspector fee for inspection or assessment of proposed new sites (for current licence holders) – 3.5 fee units per quarter hour ($57.20)
• Maximum daily rate for inspector fee for each activity – 56 fee units ($914.50)

These fees and charges are established by the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances (Industrial Hemp) Regulations 2018.

The value of a fee unit is set by the Victorian Government each year. It generally increases annually in line with inflation (consumer price index).

As a general guide, licence fees and inspector charges, plus laboratory analysis costs, can range from $500 to $1,500 annually (when a crop is grown) and are dependent on the number of crops and the time taken to collect samples for THC analysis.

Licence requirements

To prevent criminal activity in the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp, Agriculture Victoria will not issue an authority to grow if:

• the applicant or any associate of the applicant has within the last 10 years been found guilty of a serious offence. Serious offence means:
  1. an indictable offence involving dishonesty, fraud or assault; or
  2. an offence under section 72B of the Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (the Act); or
  3. any offence under the Act with a penalty of imprisonment of more than one year; or
  4. an offence equivalent to an offence referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) under the law of another jurisdiction
• the applicant or an associate(s) are deemed by Agriculture Victoria to not be a suitable person to be concerned with the cultivation, processing or supply of the crop
• the application is opposed by the Chief Commissioner of Police
• the applicant’s property or premises is not suitable for the cultivation, processing, sale or supply in relation to location, facilities and proposed security arrangements.

If you do not own the land, you will need to provide a valid lease agreement.

Limits to licences

There are no limits to the number of licences that can be issued.

Cultivated areas

There is no maximum or minimum limit placed on the cultivated area, but the crop must be for a commercial or research purpose.

The licence holder must only cultivate at the site(s) described on the licence. A licensee may apply to amend a licence to add new cultivation areas. Any new areas must be assessed and approved by the department prior to planting.

Allowable THC

The allowable THC content for crops planted as industrial hemp in Victoria is as follows:

• The seed used for sowing must be harvested from an industrial hemp crop with a THC level of 0.5% or less.
• Crops returning a test result of 1% THC or less may be harvested and processed for food (from the seed only) and/or fibre (from the stem only).

This means that crops returning test results in the range of 0.5% to 1% THC are suitable for processing only and seed from these crops must not be used for sowing.

Any industrial hemp crop that has returned a test result greater than 1.0% THC is not ‘low-THC cannabis’ and enforcement actions may be required.

Cultivating industrial hemp

Seed for sowing

A licensee must only use seed for sowing that was harvested from an industrial hemp crop with a THC level of less than 0.5%.

Hemp seed foods

Hemp seed foods include hulled hemp seed, and foods made from hemp seed such as hemp seed oil, beverages, flour and protein powder.

The sale of hemp seed foods was prohibited in Australia until 12 November 2017, when amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (Food Standards Code) legally permitted their retail sale, subject to a number of requirements

Leaves, flowering heads and other parts of the hemp plant must not be sold as food for human consumption.

Hemp cosmetics

Some cosmetic products, such as face creams and soaps, contain hemp seed oil.

How is the crop sampled to check THC levels?

Licensees must ensure that the crop is sampled at the correct time by an Agriculture Victoria Inspector.

The Inspector will submit the sample for analysis by an accredited laboratory. The sample must not exceed 1% THC. Crops returning a test result in the range of 0.5% to 1% THC are suitable for processing only, and their seeds must not be used for sowing.

Licence holders are responsible for the costs associated with analysis and inspector charges and will be invoiced accordingly.

Can I produce or supply medicinal or therapeutic products from industrial hemp cultivated under a Victorian licence?

Only the Australian Government, through the Office of Drug Control, can authorise the cultivation, production and supply of cannabis or hemp-related products for human medicinal or therapeutic purposes, irrespective of THC level.

Further information on medicinal cannabis can be found on our medicinal cannabis page.

Can I extract cannabidiol (CBD) or other cannabinoids from hemp under an industrial hemp licence?

A hemp licence issued by Agriculture Victoria cannot authorise the processing of leaves and flowering heads, which is where the cannabinoids are found. In addition, a hemp licence issued by Agriculture Victoria cannot authorise activities related to the therapeutic use of hemp.

Can I feed industrial hemp to livestock?

No. Hemp is currently not allowed to be used as stock feed in Australia due to concerns that THC could transfer from animal products to people. Hemp leaves, flowers and whole hemp seeds cannot be fed to livestock. This includes failed crops and any plant material with leaves still attached.

Only denatured hemp seeds and processed hemp grown under the appropriate jurisdictional licence and that is free from leaf, flowers and seed can be fed to livestock.

More information

For more information, including application forms and guidelines, please contact the Customer Service Centre on 136 186.