The history of Kava in Australia is much shorter as it was first introduced into the country in the 1980s. Our sources state that Fijian and Tongan missionaries and leaders brought Kava to Australia.
Additionally, many families emigrated from Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji and other Melanesian and Polynesian countries. Consequently, they brought their Kava ceremonies and drinking traditions with them.
As we have experienced, with the South Pacific tourism boom, Australians have become more aware of kava. Moreover, many Australian tourists trialed kava on their travels and brought it back with them. In so doing, the growth of kava in Australia has been phenomenal!
As kava gained popularity, kava bars and kava retail business developed. Notably, Kava was also brought to the Indigenous communities as a substitute for alcohol.
However, reports of abuse in the Indigenous communities caused the federal government to have concerns about that abuse. Therefore, the Australian Federal Government banned the importation and sale of kava in 2007 because of this concern.
The Office of Drug Controls, which regulates Kava, recently changed the status of kava. Whilst previously being listed as a narcotic, it is now scheduled as a food. We have listed below what that now means for Australian kava drinkers and the possible future of kava in Australia.
The Office of Drug Control have changed the way kava is viewed by authorities by changing its status, As such, Kava’s status has changed from being a “controlled substance” to a “food”. However, only under the following conditions:
These changes mean that importers and on-sellers are legally allowed to sell kava. Even so, they must have gone through the Import law requirements.
As mentioned, The Office of Drug Control oversees the import of Kava Australia. The following are the current import regulations and laws:
The changes to kava made by the Office of Drug Control are being monitored by many government agencies. As such, a review of the impact of these changes by Australia government bodies is ongoing.
Moreover, for Australian kava drinkers, this means that kava in Australia is now more readily available. Still, the changes that the Office of Drug Control have made to kava do not pertain to the following:
Kava drinkers must be aware that there is no guarantee they are buying Noble variety kava. So, it is important to always look for retailers that supply the noble variety kava certification with their products.
Therefore we highly recommend Australia Kava Shop’s product line as they supply certification for all their kava: