Reverse DVA’s Restrictive Medicinal Cannabis Framework - Protect Veterans’ Access to Proven Pain Relief

TO: The Honourable Matt Keogh MP, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

THE CRISIS

On 16 February 2026, DVA implemented a new medicinal cannabis framework that created an impossible barrier: mandatory in-person appointments with almost no accessible prescribers.

The prescriber crisis:

• Only ~160 doctors in ALL of Australia can now prescribe under DVA’s new specialist-only requirement
• This eliminates 95% of prescribers overnight
• Regional areas have zero accessible prescribers
• Metropolitan areas face closed books and month-long waits

The impossible contradiction:

• DVA mandates in-person appointments
• But veterans cannot legally drive while using THC medication (presence of THC = criminal offence, regardless of prescription)
• Public transport isn’t viable for veterans with mobility issues, PTSD, or agoraphobia (affects 11.9% of transitioned veterans).Telehealth removed the barriers. DVA’s framework recreated them - then made them insurmountable.

A senior RACGP leader and veteran warned that veterans “will either go off them or pay privately.” DVA knew this framework would force treatment cessation.

WHAT DVA DID

DVA now requires:

• Mandatory in-person appointments - but veterans can’t legally drive while using THC medication
• Specialist registration only - eliminating 95% of prescribers overnight
• Individual practitioner approval - veterans can’t transfer to another doctor in the same clinic without losing funding

Result: Veterans across Australia face insurmountable barriers to accessing treatment that was working. All while unable to legally drive to the few appointments available.

WHAT DVA IGNORED

88.7% of veterans stopped taking opioids after starting medicinal cannabis (documented medication dispensing data from 168 patients)

Survey of 493 veteran patients showed:

• 67% reported pain reduction
• 74% improved mental health
• 88% would recommend it to other veterans

DVA made this decision without:

• Surveying a single patient
• Consulting clinics treating thousands of veterans nationally
• Collecting any clinical outcome data
• Tracking adverse events or hospitalisations

THE PERVERSE OUTCOME

Under DVA’s own rules, veterans can only access medicinal cannabis AFTER standard treatments have failed. This means every veteran in the program has already tried and failed opioids, NSAIDs, and other pain medications.

DVA is now forcing these veterans back to the same medications that didn’t work - medications that cause:

• ~150,000 hospitalisations per year
• ~500-600 deaths per year

Compared to medicinal cannabis:

• 77 hospitalisations over 6.5 years (~12/year)
• 0 deaths attributable to the medication

DVA’S OWN CONTRADICTION

9 February 2026: Minister Keogh announced $739.2M for veteran treatment including medicinal cannabis, stating treatments must be “medically proven to be of benefit.”

16 February 2026: DVA implemented a framework making that same treatment functionally inaccessible.

One week. Same minister. Opposite outcomes.

What about the international comparison?

DVA claims alignment with Canada. Yet Canada removed specialist barriers in 2014 (DVA is adding them), embraces Telehealth for 27,000+ veterans (DVA restricts it), covers PTSD explicitly (DVA excludes mental health), and invests $20M+ in research (DVA collects zero patient data).
 
These are not minor discrepancies. These are fundamental misalignments.

WE DEMAND:

1. Immediate suspension of the 16 February 2026 framework
2. Reinstatement of the telehealth-based model that was working
3. Mandatory consultation with clinics managing large veteran cohorts
4. Clinical outcome tracking - measure what money is spent on
5. Evidence-based policy - not policy made in an evidence vacuum

WHY THIS MATTERS

Veterans who contributed to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide - reliving trauma to help shape better care - are now experiencing worse care as a direct result.

Abrupt cessation of pain medication causes:

• Pain flares
• Emergency department presentations
• Return to opioids
• The exact outcome DVA should be preventing

THE BOTTOM LINE

DVA restricted access to a treatment that:

• Works (87.8% recommendation rate)
• Reduces opioid use (88.7% cessation rate)
• Is safer than the alternative (~150,000 opioid hospitalisations/year vs
• ~12 MC hospitalisations/year)

DVA did this without asking patients. Without consulting clinics. Without any evidence it was needed.

Two phone calls to the two largest providers could have given DVA data on the majority of program participants. They made zero calls.

SIGN THIS PETITION TO DEMAND:

✅ Restore veterans’ access to proven pain relief✅ Reverse the 16 February 2026 framework✅ Make decisions based on evidence, not bureaucracy

Veterans served Australia. Australia must serve veterans.

Petition initiated by: Apex Health Pain Management Program