Australian government funds psychedelic assisted therapy for veterans in a global leading decision

By Isabel Faulkner

Published

November 25, 2025

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) in Australia have recently decided to fund MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment resistant depression (TRD) among military veterans with these diagnoses. This decision puts Australia at the forefront of psychedelic treatments for psychiatric disease.

Speaking with Dr Peter Hunt, the co-founder and chair of Mind Medicine Australia (MMA), he said that the rescheduling of these drugs in 2023 was a pivotal moment for Australia. Now is the first time that the government have stepped in and directly funded access to these therapies, in a very professional manner. Feedback from psychiatrists is encouraged and patients will have the option to join a registry so that real world outcome data can be collected. Hunt believes that this move will act as a stepping stone for other countries to follow, if demonstrably good results are seen in Australia pressure will likely grow on other governments across the globe.

Drug Science Founder Prof David Nutt stated that: "It is bittersweet that a decision which will revolutionise so many lives also underscores how far the UK is lagging behind other countries. The government must finally recognise that change is upon us."

The UK continues to fall behind on key decisions and psychedelic research is held back due to “red tape” caused by our  drug laws. 1 in 4 people have a mental illness, and in the veteran population this is 1 in 2 with suicide rates rising. As the data emerge from the Australian registry, it will become increasingly difficult for the UK to deny psychedelic treatment to our veterans, when they show such promise and effectiveness for hard-to-treat conditions in clinical trials and real-world data. Similarly, Hunt believes that it won’t be long until these drugs become a 1^st or 2^nd line treatment, and that access shouldn’t be restricted to the veteran population but also to first responders who have high levels of trauma and mental illness, and eventually will be available to the general population.

Hunt highlighted the excellent safety record of psychedelic assisted therapy; there have been no serious adverse events recorded so far from those treated. Australia has tight protocols, high standards, and excellent results, it will be hard for other countries not to follow suit. Indeed, the Czech Republic looks set to legalise Psilocybin soon with the law going through the lower house, the Netherlands have commissioned MDMA psychotherapy, New Zealand will likely legalise access to psychedelic shortly as many prescribers are now able to access psilocybin through their expanded access pathway, and in parts of America there is regulated access to wellbeing treatment in Oregon and Colorado with other states likely to follow suit.