On 1 Feb the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced that - from the 1st July 2023 - the medical use of MDMA and Psilocybin will be rescheduled from Schedule 9 (prohibited substances) to Schedule 8 (controlled medicines) of the Poisons Standard. This will enable authorised psychiatrists to prescribe these substances for treatment-resistant depression and treatment resistant post-traumatic stress disorder.

Today we speak with Peter Hunt who is not your conventional mental health practitioner. Peter is in fact a career investment banker with 35 years of experience as a banker. He has advised local and multi-national companies and governments in Australia.  The reason why we’re speaking with Peter is also an active philanthropist involved in funding, developing and scaling social sector organisations with the goal to create a better and fairer world. 

Specifically, Peter is the Chairman of Mind Medicine Australia which he established with his wife, Tania de Jong, in 2018. Mind Medicine Australia supports clinical research and works towards regulatory-approved and evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies.

In our conversation today we explore a course that Mind Medicine Australia has developed to help train the next generation of clinicians. Peter shares his views on the applications of MDMA and psychedelic assisted therapy as well as some of his own personal journey.

You can connect with Mind Medicine Australia via their website mindmedicineaustralia.org.au