The Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association

Dr, Teresa Nicoletti – Company Secretary and Co-Founder of AMCA

Dr Teresa Nicoletti is a dual-qualified PhD-qualified scientist and lawyer, and is recognised as one of Australia’s leading legal practitioners in the health and life sciences sectors, particularly in the therapeutic goods space in which she has operated for more than 25 years. 

 She holds the highest Band 1 ranking for Life Sciences in Chambers Asia Pacific and is listed in Legal 500 for Intellectual Property and Best Lawyers for Health & Aged Care, Life Sciences and Biotechnology. She is also a dual winner of the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year in Health award and numerous other awards relating to her legal practice and training.

 In her day-to-day legal practice, Teresa leads Mills Oakley’s Intellectual Property, Health and Life Sciences team, which provides broad advice to clients across their businesses, and draws on her unique mix of legal, regulatory, scientific and commercial expertise to obtain the best possible outcomes. She represents clients regularly in dealings with the TGA, state and territory health and food authorities, the APVMA, NICNAS, ACCC, HCCC, medical and pharmacy boards, AHPRA, VCAT and NCAT.

 In addition to her legal practice at Mills Oakley, Teresa has a strong administrative law background, having been a senior member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal since 2006. She is also a board director of a number of companies in the health and life sciences sector, with a strong focus on corporate governance and compliance.

 Teresa is well-recognised as one of the pioneers in the developing medicinal cannabis and hemp space in Australia, and since 2014 has strongly advocated for a facilitative legal and regulatory framework which provides access to high quality, safe and affordable medicinal cannabis to patients who may benefit from it. 

 Teresa also continues to advocate for a more facilitative industrial hemp scheme which provides broader access to hemp products in the cosmetics, food and textiles space. 

Bryan Ebstyne – Director and Co-Founder and Steering Committee member of ACM

Bryan Ebstyne was appointed to the AMCA Board as an interim Board Director on 15th September 2022. 

He is CEO of Australia’s largest licensed medical cannabis cultivation companies, Austranna. 

Bryan has gained extensive experience through his varied career, working in technology and communications, including as World-Wide Industry Director for Microsoft. He first entered the cannabis industry in 2014, when he co-founded, raised venture capital and led Leaph, Seattle‘s first industrial scale cannabis cultivation and processing company.  

Before moving to Australia, Bryan co-founded a cannabis consultancy (Ebstyne & Roth) in Düsseldorf, Germany where as Vice President of Operations, he built and led cross-disciplinary teams to compete & successfully winning Germany’s 2017 tender for cannabis cultivation licensing on behalf of MedReleaf and Aurora in 2018.

Emily Rigby – Director and Co-Founder and Steering Committee member of ACC

Emily has been on the AMCA Board since October 2021 and was appointed Chair on 31st October 2023.

Emily is a research scientist and passionate advocate for medical cannabis – promoting industry development, efficient production methods, education, patient access, research and regulatory reform. 

Since 2016, Emily has played an integral role in developing the Australian medicinal cannabis industry, including establishing a licenced medical cannabis cultivation and research facility and releasing Australian grown cannabis medicines into local and export markets. 

Following roles within the medicinal cannabis industry, Emily now runs her own consultancy as well as continuing her membership of Protected Cropping Australia (PCA), Australia’s peak industry body for hydroponic and greenhouse growers, for which she has also served as a Director and Chair.

Emily has developed a dedicated Medical Cannabis stream at PCA conferences since 2019, as well as co-developing the first industry program at the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Symposium in 2022. 

Emily was recognised as Australia’s 2021 ‘Woman of Weed’ in the Australian Cannabis Awards for her contribution to female leadership in the cannabis space. 

She is dedicated to removing the stigma surrounding the Cannabis plant and facilitating the global cannabis industry. 

Emily has most recently demonstrated her commitment to the industry, and cultivators in particular, by establishing Australian Cannabis Cultivators as the most recent of AMCA’s specialist associations.

Fiona Patten – Board Director

Fiona has Deputy Chair of AMCA since 31st October 2023.

She is a former Australian politician. She is the leader of the Reason Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2014-22, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region until she lost her seat at the 2022 state election.

Before entering politics, Fiona championed sexual rights and health movements for more than 20 years, particularly on HIV/AIDS, after initially starting out as a small business owner with her own fashion label.

During her time as a Victorian MP, Fiona was credited for playing pivotal roles in achieving social reforms in Victoria, with examples including the passage of Victoria’s assisted dying legislation, the trial of a medically supervised drug injecting room in Richmond.

Fiona has been pivotal in supporting badly needed changes to drug laws generally and for medicinal cannabis in particular.

In February 2022, Fiona introduced a bill to the Victorian upper house to decriminalise all drugs. Under the proposal police would issue a compulsory notice and referral of drug education or treatment to people found to have used or possessed an illicit drug. Those who comply with the notice would not be found guilty or receive a criminal record. “Patrick Lawrence, chief executive of addiction, mental health and legal services hub First Step, said the bill would ensure those struggling with addiction, who were often targeted by Victoria’s drug laws, received help rather than condemnation.”

With regard to medicinal cannabis, Fiona was a tireless advocate for patients while in the Victorian Parliament. She advocated for patients denied access through Worksafe and TAC but probably most importantly she introduced a number of amendment bills to address the discriminatory driving laws that prohibit medicinal cannabis patients from driving. These bills led to an expert working group and just this week she worked with the Legalise Cannabis MPs to re-introduce her Road Safety (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill which was met with strong media interest and very positive remarks from Premier Daniel Andrews. 

Finally she initiated (and chaired) a comprehensive inquiry into the use of Cannabis in Victoria which made a number of recommendations to assist medicinal cannabis patients. Fiona would like to continue to advocate and contribute to the campaign to reduce the stigma of medicinal cannabis while improving access and understand of this medicine and the people it helps.

 Dr. Peter Georgius – Director

Dr. Georgius is a Specialist Pain Medicine Physician and Specialist Rehabilitation Physician who has run a private practice on the Sunshine Coast since 2008.

In 2012, he was appointed Director of the Rehabilitation Unit at Nambour Selangor Private Hospital, and Noosa Private Hospital in 2014. He provides consultant services at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

After completing his basic surgical training in Melbourne in 2002, Dr. Georgius achieved his Pain Fellowship in Tasmania in 2004. In 2007, he went on to complete his Fellowship in Rehabilitation Medicine in Melbourne.

He has extensive experience in all aspects of musculo-skeletal and neurological rehabilitation. He has treated more than 1000 patients with medicinal cannabis. His scope of practice includes pain management and the rehabilitation of patients with complex conditions. He has expertise in:

1. advanced pain management procedures including diagnostic blocks, radiofrequency neurotomies, dorsal column stimulators and peripheral nerve stimulators

2. complex pain conditions such as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) formally known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)

3. employing the latest techniques in assessment and therapy, including neuroplasticity therapies such as Graded Motor Imagery. I am actively involved in national and international CRPS research and have several publications in the area.

Dr. Georgius offers emerging therapies for chronic pain including Medical Cannabis and Scrambler Therapy. He established and is the Principle Investigator and Director of Sunshine Coast Clinical Research (SCCR), a research organisation that is involved in national and international clinical research trials.

Dr. Georgius is a Fellow of the Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (Faculty of Pain Medicine), Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine), Member of the International Neuromodulation Society (Australian Chapter), Member of Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Member of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).

Justin Sinclair – Director

Justin has been on the AMCA Board since AMCA was founded in mid-2020. 

Justin is Chief Scientific Officer with ANTG. He was previously a Research Fellow at the NICM Health Research Institute at the University of Western Sydney, Justin coordinated the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Research & Education Collaboration (AMCREC). 

Justin is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians Australian Chapter (SCCAC) Advisory Panel and has also served as an advisor to United in Compassion, Australia’s leading medicinal cannabis patient advocacy group, in a pro bono capacity, since January 2015. 

Justin’s scientific background is in pharmacognosy (i.e. drugs that come from plants, fungi and natural sources), but his research interests extend into botany, ethnopharmacology, analytical phytochemistry and psychopharmacology. 

He is currently a co-investigator on several medicinal cannabis clinical research projects and has presented over 100 medicinal cannabis lectures to medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and the general public since 2016. 

Justin has published on the topics of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, pain management and herb/drug interactions in peer reviewed publications and is currently pursuing research focusing on the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of medicinal cannabis for endometriosis.

Disclosures 1. Research Fellow, NICM Health Research Institute (NICM) at Western Sydney University. 2. Co-ordinator, Australian Medicinal Cannabis Research & Education Collaboration (AMCREC) 3. Lead, Scientific Advisory Board of United in Compassion 4. Former Scientific Advisory Board member, BioCeuticals (Resigned April 2019)

Lucy Haslam – Co-Founder of AMCA and Lifetime Member

Lucy was Co-Founder and Chair of AMCA since its inception in mid-2020. She retired as Chair at the end of October 2023 and remains an active Ambassador and the first Life Member of AMCA.

Lucy is a retired nurse, mother and grandmother from NSW but now residing in Queensland. Her 20-year nursing career included the establishment of a successful home nursing care agency.

Together with husband Lou (a retired NSW Police officer), they raised three sons in Tamworth. Lucy always considered herself fairly conservative in her views and strict in her parenting style but the diagnosis of stage four bowel cancer for her youngest son Daniel, in 2010, challenged her perceptions around cannabis as it became a miraculous remedy for the extreme side effects of chemotherapy.

With a strong desire to care for her son, Lucy embarked on a mission to educate herself and the Australian audience about the therapeutic properties of cannabis. In 2014 Lucy and Daniel were considered criminals as they accessed cannabis on the black market. Dan sadly lost his battle with cancer in February 2015. Despite this Lucy’s campaign for the re-introduction of Medicinal Cannabis has seen its legal status change at a state and federal level. 

Lucy founded United in Compassion in 2014 and she now sees her role as both advocate for other patients and as an educator in Dan’s memory. In her role as UIC Director Lucy strives to keep the emerging industry patient-centric and morally grounded. In 2014 she organised the Inaugural Australian Medicinal Cannabis Symposium and followed up in 2016, 2017 and 2019 with three more international conferences with plans to continue on a regular basis into the future.

Lucy sat on the Advisory Council for the NSW Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation and on the ACT Non-Executive Medicinal Cannabis Advisory Council. She is keen to remain active in the industry to continue to represent patients and keep their needs at the centre of the emerging medicinal cannabis market.

Lucy was nominated and a NSW State finalist in the 2016 Australian of the Year Awards. She has received the Paul Harris Fellowship Rotary Award for her medicinal cannabis advocacy and was named as one of the top 100 Women of Influence in 2016, again for her work in reintroducing medicinal cannabis.

Lucy believes that once you understand the benefits of Medicinal Cannabis and its potential to relieve suffering, you cannot hold on to views that were born of the “war on drugs”. She predicts that Cannabis will one day be viewed as a “wonder drug” and hopes that mothers and nurses can lead the revolution!

Michael John Palmer, AO, APM

Michael John (Mick) Palmer is a barrister and 33 year career police officer with extensive experience in police leadership and reform in community, national and international policing.

Having progressed through the ranks of the Northern Territory Police Service, he was appointed Commissioner of the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services agency in 1988 he was appointed Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in 1994. Mick held this position for 7 years until his retirement in March 2001.

In 1982 and 1983, Mick practiced as a barrister at law in Queensland during a five year break in his police service. Between 1997 and 2000 he was a member of the Executive Committee of Interpol having become the first Australian elected to the position. He was also the inaugural Deputy Chair of the National Council against Drugs (NCAD) a position he occupied until his retirement from policing in 2001.

Since retiring from policing in 2001, Mick has conducted a range of inquiries and reviews for the Australian Federal and State Governments, both within Australia and overseas.

In 2004/5 he conducted the Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Immigration Detention of Cornelia RAU and recently conducted an inquiry for the Tasmanian Government into conditions in the maximum security prison at Risdon in Hobart, Tasmania.

Between 2004 and 2012 he was the Federal Government’s Inspector of Transport Security, a position created after the 9/11 and Bali bombing terrorist incidents.

Mick is a recipient of the Australian Police Medal and in 1998 was admitted to the Order of Australia (AO) for his work in “advancing the professionalisation of policing through the introduction of far-reaching anti-corruption processes and management practice reform”.

In 1999 the Board of Governors of Charles Sturt University conferred the award of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) for his contribution to advancing policing in Australia.

Mick is currently a spokesperson for the Ted Noffs Foundation’s Take control Campaign, for Safer, Saner Drug Laws, a Director Emeritus of Australia 21 and an Ambassador for SMART Recovery.

David Heilpern

David Heilpern was appointed as a Magistrate in 1998, and was at the time the youngest magistrate in Australia. He ‘retired’ in May 2020. 

He sat in the criminal, mining, family, industrial, coronial and children’s jurisdictions of the Local Court, and was the Senior Civil Magistrate for five years. 

During his time on the bench, David was the principal educator for new magistrates throughout Australia and the Pacific and made several important reported decisions on criminal, environmental and evidence law. 

Prior to his appointment, David was a litigation lawyer on the North Coast where he co-founded the law school at Southern Cross University, rising to becoming the Acting Dean in 1996. 

He maintained a litigation practice throughout this time, representing a wide range of defendants including high profile clients North East Forrest Alliance and several Local Councils. 

During this time David graduated with a Masters in Law and was pronounced the Alumni of the Decade for the University in 2005.

David has written four published books, three of which have now had multiple editions, dozens of refereed journal articles, and is a prize-winning short story writer and poet. 

David has a commitment to ensuring that medicinal cannabis is available safely and lawfully throughout Australia. In particular he is keen to see legislative change so that those who use medicinal cannabis do so without fear of criminal sanction. 

Dr. Richard Di Natale

Richard Di Natale is a former Australian politician who served as a senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. 

Prior to entering parliament, Richard was a general practitioner and health specialist. He worked in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, on HIV prevention in India and in the drug and alcohol sector.

Richard acted as health spokesperson for the Greens in Victoria and in 2002 spoke about the Greens’ support for harm reduction policies to manage illicit drug use. 

He was a Greens’ Senate candidate from 2004 and was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. Upon taking up his seat in the Senate, he became the Greens’ federal spokesperson for health, sport and multiculturalism. He was elected unopposed as parliamentary leader of the Greens party room on 6 May 2015 following the resignation of Christine Milne from the position. 

Richard campaigned against the Future Fund’s holdings in tobacco funds, a campaign that was ultimately successful with the Fund divesting the entirety of its tobacco holdings (approximately AUD $250 million) in 2012. He also helped establish Senate inquiries into a number of issues of public significance including budget cuts, medicinal cannabis, the emergence of “superbugs”, hospital funding, air pollution, pharmaceutical transparency, sports science and gambling reform. 

Richard continued with ongoing campaigns for improved human rigs in West Papua, timely access to cost-effective drugs through Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and science-based public health policies in e.g. wind farms and vaccination policy. 

He was Chair of the Senate Select Committee into the Abbott Government 2014 federal budget cuts and Deputy Chair of the Senate Select Committee into health. He was the co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends for Drug Policy and Law Reform, the Parliamentary Friends of West Papua and the Parliamentary Friends of Medicine.

On 3 February 2020, Di Natale resigned as leader of the Greens and he resigned from the Senate on 26 August 2020. Richard continues his interest in, and commitment to, improving patient access to medicinal cannabis. 

https://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/