Two outsiders persuade government to add psychedelics to Australia's prescription list
Two entrepreneurs with no medical background used petitions, lobbying, and thousands of private lectures over nearly eight years to get MDMA and psilocybin onto Australia's prescription list, surviving two formal rejections from regulators.
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One magazine article launched a campaign to rewrite Australian law
Tanya read Michael Pollan's "The Trip Treatment" in The New Yorker via Tim Ferriss's blog and told her husband "we have to do this." After being rejected from a European clinical trial for lacking a psychiatric diagnosis, they found a guide in the Netherlands for their first real psychedelic experience. This chain—an article, a rejection, a referral—became the foundation for the entire legislative campaign, started by two people with no background in psychiatry or psychedelics.
— Tania de JongTwo regulatory rejections strengthened their next application
Australia's TGA required applicants to publicly disclose rejection reasons. Mind Medicine Australia's first application was rejected at both mid-term and final review stages, but the team didn't give up. Instead, they deconstructed every reason TGA gave, had Tanya's husband redraft a more targeted application, and combined it with years of public education and thousands of lectures to earn a second chance. The rules didn't change—they learned to weaponize the requirement for transparency.
— Tania de JongBuild the clinical workforce before the law changes
While awaiting regulatory approval, the team established 30+ community chapters across Australia and launched a "psychedelic-assisted therapy certificate" program in 2021, training over 750 psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers. When the rules finally shifted, authorized prescribers would already exist—no need to build clinicians from scratch. Infrastructure before legality was the key difference between this campaign and mere lobbying.
— Tania de JongOne woman's testimony packed a hearing room with 140 people
TGA leadership expected 10–15 people for David Nutt's presentation, but 140 showed up—all internal staff. What moved the room wasn't data; it was Vanessa, whose husband Franco developed severe depression, exhausted every mainstream therapy, and died without access to legal psychedelic-assisted treatment. The team repeatedly deployed "inaction itself is a risk" to convince regulators.
— Tania de JongA kitchen sentence changed everything: 'It's been rescheduled'
On February 3, 2023, Tanya's husband said "rescheduled" in their kitchen. She didn't believe him at first and asked to see the document—certain something was wrong. Once confirmed, they danced. Months later, psychiatrists could formally prescribe MDMA and psilocybin to patients. Between "rule change" and "treating people" lay one more step.
— Tania de Jong120 licensed doctors, remission rates multiples higher than standard care
By the time of the interview, Australia had 120 authorized prescribers treating roughly 400 patients, with remission rates between 60–80%—compared to 10–15% for standard PTSD and depression therapies. The prescriber count grew exponentially: one or two in early 2024, now 120. Tanya conservatively projects 5,000 patients in three years, but acknowledges that's still a fraction of those who need treatment.
— Tania de JongThe fiercest attacks came from their own research peers
The sharpest conflicts weren't from psychedelic opponents but from researchers who wanted the same trials (terminal anxiety, for instance) repeated for five to ten more years—extending their funding and positions. Because Tanya and her husband lacked clinical credentials, they faced personal, vicious attacks: "What right do outsiders have to change rules?" She remembers crying on the carpet, fully grasping that pioneers always get attacked.
— Tania de JongOne treatment course costs $15,000—mostly therapist time
At a clinic run jointly by Mind Medicine Australia and a public company, a full course (screening through three to four months of integration) costs about $15,000 USD (roughly $25,000 AUD). The drug itself is a tiny fraction. The real expense: two therapists sitting with the patient for five to six hours. That's why the team and others discuss whether full-session video recording could enable one therapist instead, or whether faster-acting compounds could lower the cost.
— Tania de JongIn their own words · checked verbatim
And in 2018, he said to me, Tanya, I think you should set up a charity in Australia to do this. And we were mad enough to do that.
Tania de Jong10:39
over 13,000 Australians supported this submission through public submissions to our Therapeutic Goods Administration, supporting the medicine. And over 98% of people supported the rescheduling of these medicines.
Tania de Jong16:02
I believe that if my husband had have had access to these treatments, that he might still be alive today and that our young daughter would still have a father.
Tania de Jong (paraphrasing Vanessa)41:59
We're standing in the kitchen and my husband goes, it's been rescheduled. And I just said, no, I'm serious. And I said, you've got to show me this.
Tania de Jong42:59
there's a risk to not doing anything. So if you don't do anything, if you don't reschedule these medicines, that's actually a risk
Tania de Jong45:06
I also counseled mind medicine at some stages that they were perhaps working against their own case by frankly being so aggressive. I lost count of the number of emails that would have sent staff here.
Professor Skerritt (cited by Tim Ferriss)1:48:48
one of the great things that he said to us when we were with him was we're all walking each other home.
Tania de Jong (paraphrasing Ram Dass)1:59:23
Figures
| Public submissions supporting reclassification | Over 13,000 | 16:02 |
| Support rate among public submissions | Over 98% | 16:02 |
| Mind Medicine Australia doctors trained cumulatively | Over 750 | 22:21 |
| Authorized prescribers | 120 | 52:29 |
| Patients treated | Approximately 400 | 45:06 |
| Remission rate (psychedelic-assisted therapy) | 60–80% | 47:08 |
| Remission rate (standard therapy) | 10–15% | 57:38 |
| Cost per full treatment course | Approximately $15,000 USD (roughly $25,000 AUD) | 1:32:17 |
| Patient support fund fundraising target | $2.5 million | 1:54:06 |
Glossary
- TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration)
- Australia's medicines regulator, analogous to the US FDA, responsible for drug scheduling and approvals.
- Schedule 8 / Schedule 9
- Australia's drug control tiers; Schedule 9 is total prohibition, Schedule 8 allows controlled prescription use.
- MAPS
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a US nonprofit founded by Rick Doblin, long advancing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy legalization.
- Syrian rue (Peganum harmala)
- A plant containing monoamine oxidase inhibitors; taken with psilocybin, it intensifies and prolongs the trip.
- authorized prescriber
- An Australian doctor who must separately request TGA approval and pass ethics review to prescribe controlled psychedelics.
How to listen
Entrepreneurs seeking to change policy or convince regulators; nonprofit leaders championing controversial initiatives; practitioners tracking psychedelic medicine's progress.
1:00–1:10, details on Syrian rue formulas and individual dosages.