{"id":"BILL-VIC-hemp-industry-bill-2024","name":"Hemp Industry Bill 2024","slug":"hemp-industry-bill-2024","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":"2024-01-01","administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":462009,"registerId":"BILL-VIC-hemp-industry-bill-2024:current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2024-01-01","status":"in_force","reasons":null,"registeredAt":"2026-05-23T21:54:54.448Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"retrieval-0001","sectionType":"document_chunk","heading":"Document excerpt 1","content":"# Hemp Industry Bill 2024\n\nSource: https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/bills/hemp-industry-bill-2024\n\n## Status\n\nCouncil - second reading\n\n## Introduction print – Bill\n\n[\n\n601PM48bi1.pdf\n\npdf379.45 KB\n\n(opens in a new window)](https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/bills/601PM48bi1.pdf)\n\n[\n\n601PM48bi1.docx\n\ndocx108.17 KB\n\n(opens in a new window)](https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/bills/601PM48bi1.docx)\n\n## Introduction print – Explanatory Memorandum\n\n[\n\n601PM48exi1.pdf\n\npdf110.32 KB\n\n(opens in a new window)](https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/bills/601PM48exi1.pdf)\n\n[\n\n601PM48exi1.docx\n\ndocx32.71 KB\n\n(opens in a new window)](https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/bills/601PM48exi1.docx)\n\n## First House: Legislative Council\n\n### First readingCouncil\n\n-   Introduced by **Ms Rachel Payne**\n    \n-   First reading passed\n    \n    20 Mar 2024\n    \n-   Statement of compatibility tabled\n    \n    1 May 2024\n    \n    [Click Here to View the Statement of Compatibility](http://hansard.parliament.vic.gov.au/search/?LDMS=Y&IW_DATABASE=*&IW_FIELD_ADVANCE_PHRASE=&IW_FIELD_IN_SpeechTitle=Hemp+Industry+Bill+2024&IW_FIELD_IN_HOUSENAME=COUNCIL&IW_FIELD_IN_ACTIVITYTYPE=Statement+of+compatibility&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingYear=2024&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingMonth=May&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingDay=1)\n\n### Second readingCouncil\n\n-   Second reading moved\n    \n    1 May 2024\n    \n    [Click Here to View the Second Reading Speech](http://hansard.parliament.vic.gov.au/search/?LDMS=Y&IW_DATABASE=*&IW_FIELD_ADVANCE_PHRASE=be+now+read+a+second+time&IW_FIELD_IN_SpeechTitle=Hemp+Industry+Bill+2024&IW_FIELD_IN_HOUSENAME=COUNCIL&IW_FIELD_IN_ACTIVITYTYPE=Second+reading&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingYear=2024&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingMonth=May&IW_FIELD_IN_SittingDay=1)\n    \n-   Debate resumed\n    \n    15 May 2024","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"I cannot determine whether this version changed the scope of the legislation compared with its original intent because I do not have the Bill text or an earlier version to compare. To assess scope changes I need the Bill’s Explanatory Memorandum and either the earlier statutory regime or prior Bill text. If you provide the Bill text (or the specific Parts/Sections you want compared with a prior instrument), I will identify any expansions beyond the original purpose (for example, adding new licence classes, expanding permitted uses from fibre-only to food/edible products, or introducing a traceability system not previously contemplated) and explain how the scope has changed."},"complexity_factors":["I do not have the Bill text — analysis is provisional (affects accuracy).","Typical hemp Bills contain many defined terms (e.g. hemp, THC, licence classes) — expect 20–40 defined terms.","Licensing scheme with multiple classes (grower, processor, seed supplier, transporter, retailer) increases branching logic.","Testing and sampling rules create conditional procedures (who pays, sampling frequency, remedial actions) and cross-references to laboratory standards.","Traceability/chain-of-custody and labelling rules introduce record-keeping obligations across several stages of the supply chain.","Enforcement provisions (inspection, seizure, destruction, appeal rights) and administrative penalty regimes add procedural complexity.","Cross-references to other statutes (food safety, poisons/drugs control, agriculture/biosecurity, evidence) increase interpretive complexity.","Potential transitional and savings provisions for existing licence-holders and exemptions add nested exceptions and timelines."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Bill generally does (provisional — based on typical hemp-industry laws; I don’t have the bill text itself)**\n\n- Creates a regulated legal framework for growing, processing and selling hemp and hemp products in Victoria.\n\n- Sets out who must be licensed (for example, growers, processors, seed merchants, and sometimes transporters and retailers) and the steps for applying, renewing and cancelling licences.\n\n- Defines what counts as “hemp” or “industrial hemp” (normally including a maximum tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration, e.g. 0.3% or 1% on a dry weight basis) and specifies permitted uses (food, fibre, seed, cosmetics, textiles, animal feed, industrial uses).\n\n- Establishes testing, sampling and record-keeping requirements to verify THC levels and product safety; may require approved laboratories and set testing methods and sample-retention rules.\n\n- Creates a traceability or “chain-of-custody” system (seed-to-sale or crop-to-product), including requirements to label products and keep transaction records to distinguish legal hemp from prohibited cannabis.\n\n- Sets out offences and penalties for non-compliance (e.g. cultivating unauthorised crops, selling products that exceed THC limits, failing to comply with licence conditions, false labelling) and enforcement powers for inspectors (e.g. search, seizure, destruction of non-compliant crops/products).\n\n- May include exemptions (for research, traditional uses, small-scale growers or low-risk processing) and transitional arrangements for existing growers/processors.\n\n- Defines interaction with other laws (for example, drug, food safety, agricultural, biosecurity and environmental legislation) and clarifies which Acts prevail in case of conflict.\n\nWhy it matters and who it affects\n\n- Primary affected groups: farmers/producers, seed suppliers, processors, food manufacturers, retailers, testing laboratories, regulators and law enforcement. Consumers of hemp food and fibre products are indirectly affected by labelling and safety rules.\n\n- Who pays: licence applicants and holders (application fees, renewal fees, compliance costs such as testing and record-keeping), and ultimately consumers to the extent compliance costs are passed on.\n\n- Who decides: a named regulator/agency (typically an agriculture or health department) sets licence conditions, approves testing methods and has enforcement discretion.\n\nMechanics and incentives (what the law changes, and how behaviour is likely to respond)\n\n- Licensing centralises decision-making: those who want to grow or process hemp must apply and meet conditions; this creates ongoing compliance costs (tests, records, inspections) that favour larger or more-capitalised operators over casual or very small growers.\n\n- THC limits and testing create a compliance technology problem: growers will choose seed varieties and agronomic practices that reliably meet thresholds; frequent testing increases operating costs and may push marginal producers out.\n\n- Traceability and labelling requirements increase administrative burden for processors and retailers but reduce the risk that legal hemp products are confused with illicit cannabis.\n\n- Enforcement powers (seizure, destruction, fines) create downside risk for licensees; predictable enforcement and clear testing rules reduce uncertainty but increase up-front compliance investment.\n\nCosts, trade-offs and implementation risks to check in the Bill text\n\n- Compliance burden: how often must crops be tested, who pays for testing, and what record-keeping is required?\n\n- Regulatory discretion: how much rulemaking is delegated to regulation or to agency guidelines rather than being set in the Act?\n\n- Cross-law interactions: does the Bill override or defer to existing food, drug or policing laws? Are there explicit conflict-resolution provisions?\n\n- Transitional arrangements: are existing growers grandfathered, or do they need immediate re-licensing?\n\n- Market effects: do fees or high compliance costs concentrate production in larger firms? Are small processors excluded by labelling/packaging rules?\n\n- Capture and rent-seeking risk: are licence quotas, geographic restrictions or high barriers to entry provided that could concentrate benefits?\n\n- Consumer safety and testing standards: does the Bill specify testing methodology and laboratory accreditation, or delegate to regulation?\n\nWhat I need to deliver a section-by-section, source-grounded analysis\n\n- The full Bill text (or a copy/paste of key Parts/Sections), and the Explanatory Memorandum if available. With the text I will extract defined terms, list licence classes, quote the THC threshold, map offence provisions and penalties, and identify cross-references to other Acts.\n\nIf you want, paste the Bill text or upload the PDF/DOCX and I will produce a precise, section-cited plain-English summary, a complexity rating and a scope-change assessment."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024","history":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024/history","analysis":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/hemp-industry-bill-2024/documents"}}