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Journal of Australian studies

ISSN 0385-3446

2 papers in the library · publishing 2026

Papers

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Dr Howard Whitaker and LSD-Assisted Therapy at Mayday Hills Psychiatric Hospital, Beechworth, Victoria, Australia

Journal of Australian studies April 3, 2026 A. Watts, E. Clark, Jennifer Munday

ABSTRACT Between 1967 and 1975, psychiatrist Dr Howard Whitaker directed a program for the legal use of LSD and psilocybin in Victoria, Australia. His controversial practices were marred by misconduct, unscientific methods and evidence of malpractice. This study explores Whitaker’s LSD-assisted therapy in the 1970s through interviews with former staff of Mayday Hills Psychiatric Hospital in...

Marcus Clarke’s “Cannabis Indica” and Altered States of Consciousness in 19th-Century Australian Mass Media

Journal of Australian studies April 3, 2026 Clare J. Burnett

ABSTRACT In 1868 eminent Australian author Marcus Clarke wrote a gothic tale for his own Colonial Monthly Magazine titled “Cannabis Indica”, purportedly under the influence of hashish. Contemporaneous reviewers discussed this little-known short story as merely a curio, and modern scholars have followed suit. However, the experimental short story is distinguished as one of the first fictional...