This year's Spilt Milk Festival in Canberra will make the leap of being the first such event in the country to be approved at a governmental level for free pill testing to take place on its grounds.
According to a report from triple j's Hack program, the ACT government has been negotiating with the Safety Testing Advisory Service at Festivals & Events (STA-SAFE) for "months", leading to an ultimate approval in the interests of punter safety.
The testing services will be provided by Harm Reduction Australia, both anonymously and free of charge, with president Gino Vumbaca telling Hack that the process will be "non-judgmental" and not open to exploitation by police, as "there's no public health interest" in setting up patrons who use the service to be snared on their way out.
Where other governments — including NSW, Victoria and Tasmania — haven't been so open to the idea of introducing pill testing at festivals, the ACT's Health & Wellbeing Minister, Meegan Fitzharris, told Hack that "there is no evidence that having pill testing available results in increased illicit drug-taking".
"Pill testing means young people who are considering taking drugs can be informed about what’s really in the their pills and how potent they are," she said. "And it creates an opportunity to remind them of the risks before they make the final decision to take a drug."
Vumbaca echoed her sentiments, saying: "One thing that we’ve made very clear is that we won’t be telling people that it’s safe to use a particular drug."
"There are harms associated with any drug use," he said. "What we’re trying to do is make it safer."
That's long been the argument put forth by proponents of pill testing too, including those members of Port Phillip Council, in Melbourne, who voted in favour of the practice earlier this year.
Spilt Milk will be held on 25 November at Canberra's Commonwealth Park, featuring Lorde, Alison Wonderland, Bad//Dreems, Vance Joy, Cashmere Cat, Mallrat, Remi, Sampa The Great, Winston Surfshirt and more.
