Is MDMA legal in Australia?

Also known as: molly, ecstasy

Legal status

Prohibited, with a narrow medical exception. F2026L01327 places MDMA in Schedule 9, «N, α -DIMETHYL-3,4-(METHYLENEDIOXY)PHENYLETHYLAMINE *(MDMA) except when included in Schedule 8.», and in Schedule 8 only «in preparations for human therapeutic use for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder». Appendix D clause 9 confines that supply to a registered specialist psychiatrist holding an authority under Therapeutic Goods Act s19(5) that covers MDMA, or to an approved or notified clinical trial. The Schedule 8 entry is an in-window amendment: the February 2023 issue (F2023L00067, in force from 1 February 2023) printed only the Schedule 9 entry ending «*(MDMA).», and the Schedule 8 entry first appears in the July 2023 issue (F2023L00864, made 23 June 2023, registered 26 June 2023, in force from 1 July 2023). Criminal Code Regulations 2019: a controlled drug at Schedule 1 item 174 (commercial quantity 0.5 kg, marketable 100.0 g, trafficable 0.5 g) and a border controlled drug at Schedule 2 item 134 (commercial 0.5 kg, marketable 0.5 g). Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 Schedule 4 item 146 («146 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine»). The Poisons Standard read is the Poisons Standard October 2026 (Federal Register of Legislation F2026L01327, made 28 September 2026, registered 30 September 2026, in force from 1 October 2026 under its s2, replacing the June 2026 issue; no later issue was registered when it was read). This cell states Commonwealth law only. The Poisons Standard has effect through adoption by each state and territory: its Reader's guide, which s5(1) of the instrument says is not part of it, states «The scheduling of poisons is implemented through relevant State and Territory legislation.» Most personal possession and use offences are state and territory law, which differs by jurisdiction, and Criminal Code s300.4 keeps those laws running concurrently with Part 9.1. Read as in force on 2 October 2026 against F2026L01327, the Criminal Code Act 1995 at Compilation No. 174 (compilation date 30 June 2026, C2026C00243), the Criminal Code Regulations 2019 at Compilation No. 6 (compilation date 13 December 2025, F2025C01260) and the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 at Compilation No. 147 (compilation date 13 July 2026, F2026C00751). The Criminal Code Regulations schedules are made by the Governor-General and the Poisons Standard by a delegate of the Secretary under Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 s52D, so a later instrument can change any of this, and this reading does not rule out a later amendment.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. The highest penalty anywhere in Part 9.1 of the Criminal Code is imprisonment for life, and Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 s6 provides «The punishment of death must not be imposed as the penalty for any offence referred to in subsection 3(2) or (3).» Trafficking MDMA (s302.1: selling, preparing for supply, transporting, guarding or possessing with intent to sell) is s302.4, imprisonment for 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both. Trafficking a marketable quantity, 100.0 g or more under Schedule 1 item 174 of the Criminal Code Regulations, is s302.3, 25 years or 5,000 penalty units, or both. A commercial quantity, 0.5 kg or more, is s302.2, imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Under s302.5 a person who prepares, transports, guards or possesses a trafficable quantity, 0.5 g or more, is taken to have intended to sell unless they prove they had neither that intention nor belief, a legal burden (s13.4). Manufacturing MDMA for a commercial purpose is s305.5, 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both (12 years or 2,400 penalty units if a child under 14 is exposed, s310.4); s305.4 for a marketable quantity, 25 years or 5,000 penalty units (28 years or 5,600 aggravated); s305.3 for a commercial quantity, imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Under s305.6 manufacturing a trafficable quantity presumes the commercial purpose, rebuttably. Import and export are offences of their own in Division 307 against the border controlled drug listing (Schedule 2 item 134): s307.3, imprisonment for 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both, with a defence if the person proves no intention or belief that any would be sold; s307.4, which needs no commercial intent, 2 years or 400 penalty units, or both; s307.2 for a marketable quantity (0.5 g or more), 25 years or 5,000 penalty units, or both; s307.1 for a commercial quantity (0.5 kg or more), imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both. Possessing an unlawfully imported quantity is s307.5 to s307.7 on the same thresholds, and possessing one reasonably suspected of unlawful import is s307.8 to s307.10. The Customs Act s233(5) leaves border controlled drugs to these offences rather than to the Customs Act smuggling offence. Possessing MDMA as a controlled drug is s308.1, imprisonment for 2 years or 400 penalty units, or both, and s308.1(3) lets the court deal with the offender as if the offence were the state or territory possession offence, so diversion available there is available here. Supplying any quantity to a child is s309.2, 15 years or 3,000 penalty units, or both. Part 9.1, other than the import and export offences in Division 307, does not apply to conduct justified or excused by or under a state or territory law (s313.1), which is how lawful prescribing and dispensing sit outside it. There is no Commonwealth offence of using or consuming a drug; use is left to state and territory law. A penalty unit is $364 for an offence committed on or after 1 July 2026 under the Crimes (Amount of a Penalty Unit) Instrument 2026 (F2026N00424), made under Crimes Act 1914 s4AA, so 400 penalty units is $145,600, 2,000 is $728,000 and 7,500 is $2,730,000; «or both» in each penalty means the prison term and the fine are available alternatively or together. Quantities are proved under s312.1 as in force on 2 October 2026, by the pure drug in a mixture. A substituted s312.1, enacted by the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Act 2026 (assented to 26 August 2026), Schedule 2 Part 2, will «treat the mixture as consisting wholly of the prohibited substance»; it commences on a day fixed by Proclamation or at the latest on 26 August 2027, and no Proclamation was found when this was read.

If prescribed or medical

A prescription route exists only for post-traumatic stress disorder: Schedule 8 entry and Appendix D clause 9 require the prescriber to be «registered under State or Territory legislation that forms part of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law as a specialist psychiatrist» with an authority under subsection 19(5) of the Therapeutic Goods Act that covers MDMA, or supply in an approved or notified clinical trial. Appendix D clause 5 lists MDMA among poisons that «must not be possessed by a person without authority». Outside that route MDMA is Schedule 9. The Reader's guide, which is not part of the instrument, describes Schedule 9 as «Substances which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, supply or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of Commonwealth and/or State or Territory Health Authorities.»

Documentation

No traveller exemption is shown for a Schedule 9 substance. The Australian Border Force traveller guidance (abf.gov.au, read 2 October 2026) covers «Prescription medicines such as morphine, oxycodone, methadone, methylphenidate, Adderall®, and benzodiazepines» and nothing read for this cell treats a foreign prescription for a Schedule 9 substance as lawful authority for an import that Division 307 otherwise punishes. An import needs an Office of Drug Control licence and permission under regulation 5(1) of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956, and regulation 5(10) lets permission be granted only where, in the cases that apply to a private person, the drug «is required by the applicant for medical or scientific purposes». The personal importation rule in Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 Schedule 5 item 1, which covers «therapeutic goods that are imported for therapeutic use in the treatment of the importer or the importer’s immediate family», does not help where the substance is a prohibited import, because it applies only where «the goods do not contain a substance the importation of which is prohibited under the Customs Act 1901». A foreign MDMA prescription is not an authority under s19(5) of the Therapeutic Goods Act.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Australia’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.