Major Victorian music festival to host pill testing trial

Festival Beyond The Valley will be the first in Victoria to trial pill testing as part of an effort to prevent drug overdoses.

Premier Jacinta Allan announced the festival, which runs over New Year , will be the first of 10 events to offer pill testing.

More than 35,000 people are expected to attend the four-day festival, near Geelong from December 28 to January 1, making it the largest event to offer pill testing facilities.

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Premier Jacinta Allan said the trial was not about deciding whether the state would implement pill testing, but about understanding how to effectively implement it.

“We’re not going to bury our heads in the sand,” she said.

“If a young person is at a festival and got a pill in their hand, they intend to use it but they deserve that health-focused information. This is a simple and common-sense way to save lives.

“Let’s be clear: no drug is safe, but people deserve to know if that one pill will kill.”

Experts have been calling for urgent pill testing reforms after eight people were put into induced comas following suspected MDMA drug overdoses at Melbourne’s Hardmission Festival in January.

Another two women were taken to hospital days later after suspected drug use at Juicy Fest.

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The mobile testing site will be run by a consortium, led by Youth Support and in partnership with The Loop Australia and Harm Reduction Victoria.

The service will offer confidential testing using ‘world-leading’ technology to test the make-up of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals, or liquids and identify harmful chemicals that can lead to death.

The service will be staffed by a team of experts who will also provide confidential health information, the Victoria Government said.

A fixed pill testing site will also be open by mid-2025 in inner Melbourne, close to nightlife and public transport, the government said.

The Victorian Greens welcomed the move but urged the government to reconsider allowing police sniffer dog squads at festivals.

Drug harm reduction spokesperson Aiv Puglielli said festival-goers deserved “clarity and reassurance” that they’re not going to be targeted by police and sniffer dogs.

“The summer festival season is just around the corner and we know that we need pill testing up and running in order to save lives,” Puglielli said.

“For pill testing to work, festival goers need confidence to use this life saving service without fear of being targeted by police and sniffer dogs.

“Sniffer dogs do not save lives, pill testing does.”

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