The Victorian Legislative Council has backed a motion from Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP Rachel Payne to formalise the state’s cannabis cautioning scheme in law, after the party argued a recent police policy shift had failed to significantly reduce arrests.
Speaking to Cannabiz, Payne said a 2024 update to Victoria Police’s internal policy recommended cautioning over arrest for low-level cannabis possession incidents.
The changes also expanded eligibility for cautions and removed limits on how many a person could receive for personal-use cannabis possession.
However, Payne argued the policy shift had not translated into meaningful changes, with awareness of the updated approach remaining low among police, legal stakeholders and the wider community.
“Victoria Police changed their policy in September 2024. However, no-one seems to know about it,” she said.“This includes current serving police, former police, legal experts and human rights legal experts who look at cautioning schemes all the time.
“I actually asked a question to the police minister about cautions in the middle of last year, and the response that came back was not indicative that there had been changes to the cautioning scheme.
“We didn’t even know about it. It wasn’t until I met with police command and said ‘can we just stop arresting people?’ that they responded by saying ‘we already have a policy position on this’.”
Payne said it would be “really hard” for new police officers to know about the changes, and they would “probably just err on the side of caution by arresting”.
This was supported by Crime Statistics Agency data cited by the party, which showed 48% of people detected with small amounts of cannabis were still arrested, compared to 37% who received cautions.
Payne said the figures highlighted the policy was not being applied in practice.
“Those figures should well and truly should be the other way around,” she said.
The motion was passed undefeated, with both the government and the opposition supporting the motion.
“It’s fabulous – it indicates that Victoria Police are leading the way in saying we need a harm minimisation approach,” Payne said.
She said legislating the scheme would provide clarity for police, magistrates and the public, while freeing up police resources.
“Just make cautions the law, and then everyone will be on the same page,” she added.
Payne said the Victorian government would now investigate the proposal further, with the party hopeful the reform could be progressed before the November 28 state election.
“Because the opposition has not opposed this, I think it gives even more weight for the government to act,” she said.
“But in saying that, what the government wants to do now is investigate it, and David (Ettershank) and I will continue working behind the scenes to make sure that process is done swiftly and properly.
“We’ll do our best to get it done as soon as practical, [although] nothing is quick in this place. But with an election year coming up, there will be opportunities to push this forward.”