'Left behind': Most populous state says it has no plans for pill testing

Pill testing will become permanent in Victoria following a trial across two summer music festival seasons and a fixed site.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announced mobile teams will set up shop this summer at up to 10 festivals and events over an 18-month trial.

A fixed site will also open in mid-2025 somewhere in inner Melbourne, close to nightlife and transport.

The move brings the state into line with the ACT and Queensland where pill testing has been in place since 2022 and 2024.

NSW health minister Ryan Park declined to talk about the merits of pill testing but told ACM the government will "announce our drug summit in due course".

"This is an important conversation for us to have and it will be the first of its kind in a quarter-century," he said.

"I can assure the community that this summit is fully funded and that a lot of work is being done on this to ensure that we get it right."

The Minns government went to the election promising a drug summit.

However there was no line item or mention of a drug summit in the NSW budget this month.

Harm Reduction Australia president Gino Vumbaca said NSW has "simply been left behind".

"They are saying everything will be hinged on a drug summit but there is no date on a drug summit," she said.

Mr Vumbaca said he was "very disappointed" with the NSW response.

NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman told ACM the former coalition government invested "hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding" to break the cycle of drug use, including commissioning the Special Inquiry into Ice.

But he said the Coalition rejected the recommendation from the inquiry on pill testing.

Independent Murray MP Helen Dalton said that she supported harm minimisation she also had concerns around pill testing.

She told ACM she remained concerned that there hadn't been enough research into whether or not pill testing increases pill use.

"I think we can all agree that less drug use should be a goal along with safer drug use," she said.

"I think we need to have a better conversation about this issue. And we shouldn't be ideological about this. Our focus should always be about the welfare of our kids, whether we ultimately decide that pill testing is a good thing or a bad thing."

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