WA's hemp industry
collapsed on our watch.
200 hectares in 2009. 24 hectares in 2023. The global market grew 25% per year while WA sat it out. Not because the land was wrong. Because the laws were.
WA hemp production
Commercial hectares collapsed
-88%
2009
200ha
peak production
2023
24ha
commercial hemp crops
Source: WA parliamentary record, 21 August 2024.
US$24-72B
global forecasts by 2033/34
market reports vary widely
AU$75B/yr
WA high-growth scenario
needs modelling
The basics
Hemp is not psychoactive.
Hemp is Cannabis sativa L. with a THC content of no more than 1%. At that concentration, it is not psychoactive. The conflation with marijuana is not agricultural science - it is a political choice made in the United States in 1937 that Australia imported wholesale.
A plant cultivated for over 10,000 years, used to produce more than 25,000 documented products, capable of growing in WA conditions with minimal inputs - treated as a controlled drug. The distinction is not pedantry. It is the foundation of every reform argument that follows.
US$24-72 BILLION
Global industrial hemp forecasts vary widely for 2033/34. Even the conservative end is a major growth market, while WA's production fell 88%.
Watch
Hemp is already growing here.
The policy question is whether WA keeps treating a legal crop like a problem, or builds the processing, licensing, and market pathways farmers need.
How it happened
WA's hemp collapse
The industry peaked at 200 hectares in 2009. By 2023 it was 24 hectares. HempGro - the WA Hemp Growers Co-operative - disbanded in 2025. DPIRD spent $2.6M in staff costs and $1.1M in industry grants. It produced a research sector, not a commercial industry.
For every US$1 fall in the iron ore price, WA loses $94 million in annual royalties. Hemp diversification is not idealism. It is economic risk management.
Parliamentary record
First WA Parliamentary Question
WA Parliament records the first question on the feasibility of an industrial hemp industry.
Industrial Hemp Amendment Act
THC threshold raised from 0.35% to 1%. A win - but not enough.
Select Committee Established
Cannabis and Hemp Select Committee established in the WA Legislative Council.
Industrial Hemp Motion
Legalise Cannabis Party Motion.
Select Committee Final Report
Cross-party recommendations for reform tabled. Significant changes endorsed.
Estimates: DPIRD Hemp Spending
Brian extracts the figures: $2.6M staff costs + $1.1M industry grants since 2018-19. The investment is there. The hectares are not.
Industrial Hemp Motion - Unanimous
Brian's motion passes unanimously. Minister commits to reviewing the Industrial Hemp Act.
HempGro Disbanded
The WA Hemp Growers Co-operative folds. The only industry body for WA hemp farmers closes.
Hemp Registrar Gazetted
A dedicated Industrial Hemp Registrar gazetted at DPIRD. The infrastructure exists. The laws are still in the way.
ODC Consultation Opens
The Commonwealth opens consultation on the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016 and licence charges before they sunset on 1 April 2027. Submissions close 19 July 2026.
The opportunity
What WA could be producing
Brian has cited high-growth parliamentary modelling for WA hemp, including a CBD production scenario at commercial scale. Those figures should be treated as a scenario, not an official forecast. The next step is independent economic modelling across conservative, moderate and high-growth cases.
AU$75B/yr
High-growth CBD scenario
10,000 ha
Cited in Parliament; not an official forecast
$60M/yr
Seed production
20,000 ha
Food and nutrition market
$42M/yr
Fibre production
20,000 ha
Conservative market pricing
What hemp can do
25,000+ products. Six sectors.
Every one of these sectors has a WA opportunity. None of them are hypothetical.
Food & Nutrition
Hemp seed provides a rare omega-3, omega-6, omega-9 combination. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) approved low-THC hemp seed foods in 2017. The food market is the most commercially developed sector in WA - but tiny compared to global demand for hemp protein, oil, and flour.
Construction
Hempcrete is fireproof, carbon-negative, and thermally superior to conventional building materials. The buildings sector accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions. Hemp construction is a direct response to one of the largest emissions sources on the planet.
Textiles & Fibre
Hemp fibre: USD $379.5M market (2024), projected USD $1.99B by 2033. Hemp produces 2-3x more fibre per hectare than cotton with a fraction of the water and no pesticides. WA has the land. It lacks the processing.
Carbon & Environment
Hemp sequesters more carbon than most agricultural crops. It removes heavy metals from contaminated soil. As WA faces dryland salinity and diversification pressure, hemp offers both an economic and environmental solution.
Phytoremediation
Hemp can extract PFAS compounds and heavy metals from contaminated soils - significant potential for WA mining remediation and contaminated land. A 2026 study by Wiley confirmed.
Industrial & Biofuel
Hemp biomass can replace petrochemical inputs in plastics, composites, and biofuels. Over 25,000 documented products. BMW has used hemp-based materials in door panels. The question is not whether there is demand - it is whether WA can capture any of it.
Proof of market
WA's hemp industry - who is already there
Their existence proves the market. Their scale proves the failure of policy.
Margaret River HempCo
Georgina Wilkinson has been operating since 1995 - thirty years. Hemp seed oil, food products, skincare, and clothing. Survived three decades of regulatory uncertainty. That is a proof-of-concept for what WA hemp can be.
hempco.net.au
Hemp Homes Australia
Gary Rogers has been building for 30 years, working in the hemp industry for 20. Built the Sativa Sanctuary in Witchcliffe - Australia's first hemp holiday home. Hempcrete walls, hemp insulation, carbon-negative construction.
hemphomesaustralia.net.au
Indica Hemp House
Sharlene Mavor built Indica Hemp House in Wilyabrup - a luxury hempcrete property featured in The West Australian in June 2024. Premium sustainable accommodation, made from hemp, operating commercially in WA right now.
indica.au
iHempWA
The WA hemp industry association. Produces hempcrete materials, ran the Australian Industrial Hemp Conference in Margaret River in January 2026. The peak body is active - the sector it represents is being strangled by laws the government has unanimously acknowledged need reform.
ihempwa.org
Vasse Valley
Margaret River hemp food producer making seed, oil, protein, and pantry products. Another local example of WA hemp value already reaching consumers.
vassevalley.com.au
Herbee
Australian hemp wellness and retail brand built around hemp seed, oil, and plant-based products. Proof that consumer demand already exists.
herbee.com.auThe government agreed. The laws did not change.
Unanimous motions. Ministerial commitments. A gazetted Registrar. And still the industry has not recovered. Here is why.
Federal consultation now open
The Office of Drug Control window is open until 19 July 2026.
The Office of Drug Control is reviewing the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016 and Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Regulation 2016 before they sunset on 1 April 2027. This is the live opportunity to argue for practical fixes to supply pathways, licence conditions, and the cost recovery framework affecting Australian cultivation and manufacturing.
Make a submission to the Office of Drug Control
The fix
What needs to change
Not aspirational positions. Recommendations from the parliamentary record, industry evidence, and international comparisons.
Raise the THC threshold from 1% to at least 2-3%, with safe harbour provisions for weather-driven variance so legal farmers are not punished when heat, drought or seasonal stress pushes a crop slightly over the limit.
Extend licence terms from 3 years to 5, enabling capital investment planning.
Permit full plant utilisation - stalk, hurd, biomass - rather than mandatory ploughing.
Use the 2026 ODC consultation to push for better Commonwealth supply pathways, fairer licence conditions, and a cost recovery model that does not punish domestic producers.
Invest in state-backed decortication and fibre processing infrastructure in the South West and Kimberley.
Align WA regulation with federal frameworks across the Narcotic Drugs Act, FSANZ, and TGA.
Establish a hemp economic taskforce with university sector research support and industry co-design.
Commission an independent economic modelling study to validate the production figures cited in parliament.
Coming 2026
Unshackled: The Hemp Economy WA Could Have
The full commissioned report is in preparation. Funded by a $10,000 grant from Michael Balderstone (Nimbin HEMP Embassy and Legalise Cannabis Australia), co-authored with WA industry figures.
Eight chapters: definitional reset, economic modelling, environmental case, regulatory barriers, and a full path forward for WA as a hemp economy.
“The chamber has unanimously agreed reform is needed. And we still have barely two dozen hectares in production. At some point, agreeing is not enough. You have to actually change the laws.”
Dr Brian Walker MLC
Member for Western Australia, WA Legislative Council
Leader of the Legalise Cannabis Party WA
More from Dr Brian Walker MLC
THC Driving Laws
Why WA's drug driving laws need urgent reform
Cannabis Bill 2026
Brian's bill to legalise cannabis in WA
TGA - War on Wellness
How the TGA misrepresented 700,000 Australians
Hemp Phytoremediation
Cleaning WA's contaminated land with hemp
THC Timeline
Five years of parliamentary record on drug driving
About Brian
45 years as a GP. Twice elected to Parliament.