Approvals of medicinal cannabis prescriptions under the Special Access Scheme (SAS-B) rose slightly in July, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration signing off 18,720 applications, up from 18,205 the previous month.
The figure was nearly 5% higher than July 2024 and took the 2025 total to more than 132,000, around a quarter ahead of the same period last year.
Dried flower remained the most prescribed dosage form, accounting for 38% of approvals, the same as June. Oil made up 32%, down slightly from 33% the month prior.
Pastilles continued to take a greater share – there were 3,950 approvals in July – and now account for 21.1% of successful SAS-B applications, up from 19.8% in June.
In terms of product type, category 3 medicines accounted for 29% of pastille approvals in July, followed by category 4 (24%), category 2 (20%) and category 5 (19%). Pure CBD products (category 1) made up the remaining 8%.
Chronic pain accounted for 44% of those approvals, followed by anxiety (32%) and sleep disorders (16%),
Other indications for pastille approvals included attention deficit disorders (2%), PTSD (2%), depression (1%) and cancer pain (1%).
Across all dosage forms, chronic pain made up 46% of all approvals, up one percentage point from June. Anxiety accounted for 30%, sleep disorders held steady at 11%, and insomnia was at 3% – all unchanged as a proportion of total approvals.
Victoria’s share of national approvals climbed to 47%, up from 40% the previous month. Queensland fell from 37% to 32%, while New South Wales was in line with June’s figures at 15%.
The number of prescribers was almost identical, rising slightly from 892 to 894 between June and July.