Partying in NSW just got a whole lot safer. After years of campaigning and debate, and trials beginning in Victoria, the NSW Government has just confirmed the first trial site for pill testing in NSW – with Yours and Owls Festival in Woollongong the first music festival to participate.
In releasing the announcement, the government is keen to reiterate that supporting pill testing isn’t an endorsement of illicit drug taking, with NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park explaining that the trial has been “designed to provide people with the necessary information to make more informed decisions about drug use, with the goal of reducing drug-related harm and saving lives.”
Popping up at the Wollongong festival site on Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2, the first pill testing site will be a safe space for people considering taking drugs to have the content of their pills tested for purity, potency and adulterants. The free, anonymous service will be staffed by analysts who will test drugs to confirm what the substance is, and peer workers and health workers who will communicate the limitations of drug checking, and the risks involved with any drug taking.
Ben Tillman, a spokesperson for Yours and Owls explained: “While Yours and Owls maintains a zero-tolerance policy to illegal drugs, we are realists and see the abstinence-only approach as unhelpful. Pill testing is not a panacea. However, it is a proven harm-minimisation strategy that has been successfully implemented in many countries overseas for the past 20 or so years.”
This stance was backed by the co-chairs of the Government’s 2024 Drug Summit, who recommending a trial of music festival-based drug testing before potentially introducing the service across the state.
Following the festival, the pill testing trial will continue for 12 months, with the government in conversation with other festival organisers.
You can learn more about the NSW Drug Checking trial here.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.