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Pill testing to become permanent at up to 15 NSW music festivals each year
🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

Pill testing to become permanent at up to 15 NSW music festivals each year

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • New South Wales will make pill testing permanent at up to 15 music festivals a year starting in October.
  • A University of Sydney evaluation found 2.3 drug-related hospital presentations per festival day during the trial, compared with 3.6 over the previous two years.
  • Testing found unexpected substances in 8.1% of samples, prompting some users to discard them, take less or decide not to use them.

New South Wales will make pill testing a permanent feature at up to 15 music festivals a year, beginning in October. The decision follows a one-year trial that researchers linked to fewer drug-related hospital presentations.

There will always be risks involved when consuming these substances, and this initiative does not endorse drug use

— Ryan ParkThe New South Wales health minister cautioned that pill testing does not eliminate the risks of drug use.

NSW Health tested drugs at 12 festivals between March 2025 and March 2026. More than 1,800 people visited the service, and nearly 1,500 samples were analysed. A small portion of each drug was tested for unknown or potentially life-threatening substances.

A University of Sydney evaluation recorded 2.3 hospital presentations per festival day during the trial, down from an average of 3.6 over the previous two years. The report observed a downward trend across festivals of different sizes and musical styles. Several events, including Hyperdome, Yours and Owls, Laneway and Mighty Hoopla, recorded no drug-related presentations during the trial.

Drug checking at music festivals can reduce harms associated with drug use

— Ryan ParkPark explained the government’s rationale for making the service permanent.

The service found an unexpected substance in 8.1% of samples. Among people whose samples raised concerns, 30% said they would discard them, 37.5% said they would use less, and 7.5% said they would not use the substance. MDMA appeared in 64.3% of samples, ketamine in 19.9% and cocaine in 8.1%. Of the MDMA tablets and capsules tested, 4.4% contained a high dose.

There is a clear reduction in intubating numbers. I can tell you I've certainly noticed a distinct drop in serious presentations

— Unnamed healthcare workerA healthcare worker told researchers about changes observed during the trial.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the program did not endorse drug use and was not a complete solution, but said it could reduce harm and ultimately save lives. The announcement was welcomed by Jennie Ross-King, whose 19-year-old daughter Alex died from MDMA toxicity before the 2019 FOMO festival in Parramatta. Ross-King has advocated pill testing since her daughter’s death.

If you look at our statistics of how many people end up in hospital on the nights of our events, the two events we had drug checking was significantly lower than previous events

— Unnamed festival promoterA promoter compared hospital admissions at events with and without drug checking.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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