Two of Australia's medicinal cannabis trade associations have announced they will work more closely together, aiming to speak with one voice when engaging with government.
In a joint statement, the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association (AMCA) and Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) said the collaboration would be carried out "for the benefit of their members and the medicinal cannabis sector as a whole and to facilitate interactions with government bodies and other stakeholders as one unified voice."
Dr Teresa Nicoletti, who was recently appointed AMCA's new chair, said: "For many years, MCIA and AMCA have been interacting separately with the federal, state or territory and local governments and their departments and advisory bodies, as well as other organisations such as the Parliamentary Friends of Medicinal Cannabis.
"As our organisations' outlooks have become more aligned, and through a series of recent meetings, we agree that working together would be more productive for us, our members and the wider sector, and easier for… third parties with whom both of our organisations interact."
MCIA chair Peter Koetsier added: "Supporting the breadth of the Australian medicinal cannabis sector while enhancing patient wellbeing through facilitating patient access to quality medicinal cannabis product is important to both MCIA and AMCA.
"Working collaboratively for the sector will resonate more loudly than individual voices."
The relationship between MCIA and AMCA has not always been smooth since AMCA launched in July 2020 — a development that came shortly after MCIA and the then Medical Cannabis Council (MCC) had announced their own plans to work together, declaring "the industry will be best served by having a shared vision and speaking with one voice."
The situation grew more complex in May 2022 when the Emerging Therapeutics Association of Australia (ETAA) entered the picture with a stated vision "to embed emerging therapies as part of Australia's healthcare landscape."
It is understood that time-poor politicians have expressed frustration at a relatively small industry being represented by three separate bodies, and that the latest announcement is likely to be welcomed in those quarters.
Sources close to both organisations say relations between AMCA and MCIA have warmed in recent months, with leadership changes on both sides helping to foster a more cooperative approach.
Each organisation runs its own conference — MCIA's ACannabis is scheduled for Melbourne next month, while the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Symposium, founded by AMCA co-founder Lucy Haslam, has been a fixture of the industry calendar since 2014.
There are currently no plans to merge the two events, with the immediate priority being closer coordination between AMCA and MCIA in their dealings with government bodies.
