Picture a crop that can grow in every Australian state and territory. Its seeds are a superfood. Its fibres can be turned into fire-resistant, sustainable building materials, natural fabrics, health oils and even biodegradable packaging. It sounds almost too good to be true. But this isn't science fiction. It's industrial hemp.
Once misunderstood and overlooked, industrial hemp is re-emerging as one of the most promising crops for a climate-conscious future. As the world grapples with food security, waste and sustainability challenges, a growing group of Australian innovators are proving that hemp could be a big part of the solution.
Building a better future one hemp brick at a time
In Margaret River, Western Australia, Gary Rogers and his wife Georgie have spent nearly three decades at the forefront of the nation's hemp industry. Through Margaret River Hemp Co, Hemp Homes Australia and a local processing facility, they've transformed the way people think about building materials.
By 2017, Gary became the first person in Western Australia to build a house using hempcrete, a mix of hemp's woody stem, lime render and water.
"We basically built this to supply Hemp Homes Australia," says Gary. "That was really the ethos. Reducing our carbon footprint, growing it locally and building houses locally."
The results speak for themselves. Their hemp homes are carbon negative, fireproof, termite resistant and naturally regulate temperature and moisture.
"It just keeps ticking every box," Gary says. "Every avenue you look down, you can use hemp."
From nightclubs to hemp factories
Across the country in Tasmania, another unlikely hemp champion is making waves.
Andi Lucas, founder of X-Hemp, runs Tasmania's only hemp fibre processing facility, and her path to hemp was far from conventional.
"I used to run a nightclub," she laughs. "I don't come from a background in agriculture at all."
But after losing two homes, one to bushfire and another to flood, Andi started looking for sustainable, climate-resilient housing materials. Her research led her to hempcrete and she's been hooked ever since.
"I'm not naive enough to think I can single-handedly save the planet," she says. "But if lots of us do as much as we can, I think we've got a chance."
Since launching X-Hemp in 2020, the business has supplied locally grown-and-processed hemp to dozens of residential homes and supplied materials for Australia's largest commercial hemp project, a $130 million restoration of the University of Tasmania's Forestry Building in Hobart.
"The Forestry Building project is a model of how large, well-established companies [like Hansen Yuncken] can support emerging industries," she says.
A Superfood for the Future
Beyond construction and textiles, hemp's tiny seeds pack a nutritional punch that's earning them global superfood status. Hempseed is rich in protein, fibre and essential fatty acids, particularly omega 3, 6 and 9, making it one of the most nutrient-dense plant foods on the planet.
As Andi Lucas puts it, "I didn't know you could eat hemp seed six or seven years ago. Now, I eat it every day.
"I've replaced my fish oil tablets with hemp oil. It's got all the same benefits, and it's grown right here in Australia."
According to researchers, the local market for hemp foods is small but growing rapidly. Hempseed offers Australians a homegrown alternative to imported oils and proteins, one that supports soil health, biodiversity and regional economies.
Innovation meets investment
Like many emerging sectors, the road for industrial hemp hasn't been easy. Access to finance remains a major barrier, with banks and investors often hesitant to back what they see as an untested market.
On top of those realities, X-Hemp has faced further systemic barriers, with the female-founded businesses receiving less than 0.5% of total venture capital funding in Australia in 2025, a decrease from 2% in 2024 and 4% in 2023
"Over the last two years, I've raised $3.4 million in seed capital during what's been described as the most economically hostile time to do so," Andi says.
"I'm really proud of it, but that was time I could have spent growing our business, and we still need more money to buy the equipment we need and to plant more crops. We know how to do it and all we need to scale is access to capital."
Despite these challenges, demand for hemp products continues to grow, particularly for construction. However, as Andi explains, processing a bale of hemp produces multiple outputs and only one, the hurd used in hempcrete, is currently being sold.
"That means 60 to 70% of the processed material – bast, fines and dust – is just sitting in storage," she says.
"There are waiting markets and we simply need the additional investment to develop products for the rest."
Hemp in the tropics
Further north, in Townsville, Queensland, engineer Steve Tiley is taking hemp in new directions. As co-founder of Wandarra, Steve is building a vertically integrated hemp business focused on food, oils and industrial products.
Hemp grain is now making its way onto protein markets, the oil into skin care and as an alternative to petroleum and palm oil. Wandarra subsidiary, Hulkbuild, commissioned its bio-panel mass manufacturing line to supply 1,000 hemp panels into the building supply shortage.
Wandarra also recently signed a licensing deal with a German company to produce food packaging made from hemp, greatly reducing single use plastic.
"Hulkpack will soon be manufacturing berry punnets, chip buckets and food containers," he says.
"It's a genuine circular economy."
Research, regulation and the road ahead
Over the past decade, Australia's hemp industry has made real progress. Supported by AgriFutures Australia, research and development efforts are building the foundation for future growth.
Professor Tobias Kretzschmar from the Southern Cross University manages AgriFutures' $2.5 million Australian Industrial Hemp Program of Research (AIHPR), aimed at assessing new varieties, improving primary production, value-adding products and substantiating sustainability claims.
"We're testing existing and new varieties across Australia to identify what performs best," he says.
"The goal is to create a strong foundation for growers and processors."
But he acknowledges that hemp's versatility is both a blessing and a challenge.
"There are about a thousand different end products that can come from hemp," he says.
"That's an incredible strength, but it spreads investment and research thin."
Breaking the stigma
Despite its potential, hemp still faces an image problem. Because it comes from the Cannabis sativa plant, public misunderstanding and restrictive advertising regulations persist.
"Anything involving a hemp leaf, you can't even use that iconic symbol in advertising," says Professor Kretzschmar.
"It's a huge hurdle."
Andi Lucas agrees. "We don't have trouble distinguishing between edible and poisonous mushrooms, we can do the same with hemp and marijuana. It's time to move past the stigma."
A crop for Australia's future
Industrial hemp's promise stretches far beyond novelty products. It represents a genuine pathway toward sustainable housing, low-carbon agriculture, biodegradable materials and nutrient-rich foods.
Innovators like Gary Rogers, Andi Lucas and Steve Tiley are already proving what's possible. As Gary puts it, "Whoever does it first is going to be the winner. Everything so far has worked, we've got the solution. Now we just need support from lawmakers, investment and amplification of the message."
With research accelerating, markets expanding and a new generation of entrepreneurs taking the lead, hemp's time in Australia might finally have arrived. The question isn't if it will take off, it's when.
