Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:31): (1488) My question is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Minister Hamer. Last week the New South Wales Parliament passed legislation to create fairer drug-driving laws for patients who use lawfully prescribed medicinal cannabis. Under the New South Wales reforms, eligible patients will no longer automatically face penalties simply because THC is detected in their system at the roadside, provided they meet strict conditions and are not driving while impaired. This recognises a basic reality: THC can remain detectable in a person’s system long after the effects of impairment have passed. Yet in Victoria, patients prescribed medicinal cannabis can still face serious consequences simply because THC is detected, even when they are not impaired. So my question is: Minister, will the government commit to following New South Wales’s lead and fixing Victoria’s roadside drug-testing laws for medicinal cannabis patients?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (14:32): I thank Ms Payne for her question. I will refer it accordingly.

 Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:32): I thank the minister for referring it on. In 2024 the Victorian government committed $4.9 million to a driving trial, acknowledging the need to reform driving laws for medicinal cannabis patients. While I acknowledge that in November 2024 the government accepted Legalised Cannabis Victoria’s amendment to the Road Safety Act 1986 giving courts discretion not to cancel the licences of medicinal cannabis patients who test positive for the presence of THC while driving, this matter is still unresolved at the roadside drug-testing stage. This government’s 18-month closed-circuit track trial is well and truly completed, according to the government’s own timeframe, yet we are still awaiting the findings. Victorians deserve certainty – to know what the evidence shows and when the government will act. Minister, when will the trial findings be released so that we can finally reform Victoria’s outdated driving laws for medicinal cannabis patients?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (14:33): I thank Ms Payne for the supplementary, and I will refer that accordingly also.