NSW Pill Testing: NSW to Trial Pill Testing at Music Festivals in 2025

The Minns Labor Government will commence a music festival-based pill testing trial in early 2025, to reduce risks and harms associated with illicit drug use.

Illicit drugs remain illegal in NSW. The NSW Government reiterates that there will always be risks involved when consuming these substances and this announcement is not an endorsement of illicit drug use.

However, the trial will help people make safer choices, will ensure they can speak to a health professional and it could save lives.

The trial, which is free and anonymous, will allow festival goers to bring a small sample of substances they intend to consume to qualified health staff to test for purity, potency and adulterants.

The amnesty provided as part of this trial, is strictly limited to people seeking to check drugs for their own personal use and it will remain an offence to possess illicit drugs at any event where pill testing is provided.

The strong efforts of police in targeting drug suppliers will in no way be changed by this trial and these services will not be made available to people seeking to supply drugs to others.

The trial will go for 12 months and it will cost just over $1 million to roll out the service within festival grounds.

The trial comes after the Government’s Drug Summit concluded in early December. The Drug Summit co-chairs provided interim advice recommending a trial of music festival-based pill testing, given the fast-approaching summer festival season.

Throughout the trial, peer workers will be available to provide harm reduction advice to help people make informed decisions.  2001 2

NSW Health and NSW Police will work together to safely and effectively implement the trial.

Information from the trial will be integrated into existing drug-harm surveillance to improve the reach and speed by which drug warnings are issued to the community.

NSW Health will consult with the music festival industry and harm reduction organisations to select events to include in the trial. The trial will also be independently evaluated.

Last month, the NSW Government announced the rollout of $265 million in funding for drug treatment and support services across the state, including residential rehabilitation and withdrawal management; day rehabilitation and counselling; and community-based case management.

More information on the public drug warnings issued by NSW Health can be found at: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/public-drug-alerts

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